Why Don't You Stay at Mine Tonight?
by spocketlaine
Summary: He realized that he couldn't stop this from happening, couldn't help himself from falling in love with her. AU [MisakixOC]
1. Falling Apart

AN: you guys might probably be sick and tired of Misaki and Ayame by now, but this AU would not leave me alone and i just have to post it. This is in no way connected with _FOLW _and_ WOS _so don't expect anything from there that will appear here.

anyway, in this AU, Ayame did not go to Japan to study but stayed in America to complete high school and take two years of gen ed college credits before transferring to Paris to continue studying fashion designing. and Misaki's already an established player of PSG for about two years now. Circumstances happen and they meet and let's see where this goes in the future, i am no idea exactly what im going to do with this.

so hopefully you like this story like all my other ones.

yeah i dont own captain tsubasa.

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Chapter 1: Falling Apart

He wasn't usually one to get drunk, but either way, he found himself in a bar, nursing a glass of whiskey.

_"__I'm sorry. I can't do this anymore."_

Seven words. Seven words that he didn't know would hurt him so much. He couldn't exactly blame her. He would get frustrated with someone like him too. How couldn't you when your boyfriend of three years couldn't even find time to spend some time with you.

It's just that, it was hard to find free time when he had training in _Camp de Loges_ and she had to go to her photoshoots for her modeling job. Then when she was off on weekends, he was either playing at _Parc des Princes_ or he was playing away. And when he's not doing anywhere, she was off flying to another place to shoot a scene.

But, really he couldn't blame her for leaving him. He could have tried to find time, to put more effort into looking to be with her. But he didn't, and it's all his fault.

Azumi had every right to leave him, and he knew it.

He gulped the rest of his whiskey down. He didn't know how many glasses he already drank, but he was sure it was more than three he usually had. He probably drank a whole bottle, maybe even more. He could feel the buzz of intoxication running through his body, but he found that he could care less.

He knew that it would be bad if someone saw him like this. But he didn't care. This was the bar he usually came to with the rest of PSG's team when they feel like having a drink. The bar owner and its tenders already knew them, and he trusted them to not say anything.

He laid a couple of bills on the bar table before finally standing up. He was staggering a little bit, but he steadied himself. He could smell his breath and the pungent smell of alcohol entered his nose. He was drunk, he knew. But wasn't that what he wanted?

He was swaying heavily while he walked out of the building, and it was good thing he didn't hit into anything. His walk to his apartment shouldn't take that long. It was just close by anyway. It was one of the reasons why he liked that bar. Even if he was drunk, he shouldn't have that much mishap in the streets. Besides, it was late. The people of Paris was either asleep or out getting drunk like him. Except, they were having fun while he was wallowing in self-pity.

He arrived in his apartment building and mechanically headed for his room. He couldn't even remember pressing onto the elevator button to his floor. He just knew he wanted to go to his bed and forget about everything.

He was finally before his door, and he felt for his keys in his pocket. He got them out and tried to fit one of the keys –he wasn't thinking at this point- and jammed it into the keyhole. But, it wouldn't fit. It wouldn't open. He tried to push it further, but it just wouldn't budge.

"Damn it!" he cried in frustration and dropped the keys on the floor. He punched his door, and almost screamed in anger, when it didn't open. He turned away from his door and leaned against it, before he felt himself sink towards the floor, covering his face his with his hands.

He loved her, he loved her so damn much.

He was going to ask her to move in with him, damn it. He was ready to ask her to marry him. He had a ring ready to fit into her hand, and take their relationship further.

Ever since he moved to France when he was young, she's always been there by his side. She was there when he was new to the place, helping him get acquainted with Paris. She was there when he needed support during the Junior World Youth Tournament. She was there when he was getting over his injury in the World Youth. She was there when he decided to sign with Paris Saint-Germain.

She was always there, and he believed that she's never going to leave his side.

And maybe it was true that he took her for granted, but that didn't mean that he didn't love her.

All those years they've been through, all those moments they spent together, all those precious time he spent with her no matter how small they might have been; he held those close to him, held them dear to his heart.

He couldn't even describe the joy he felt when he agreed to be in a romantic relationship with him when he asked her after the World Youth. He couldn't remember how happy he was when they kissed for the first time and she didn't reject him. He couldn't stop smiling when he imagined what life would be when they finally, finally be bonded together 'til they die.

But everything was destroyed when she told him she couldn't take anything anymore.

He destroyed it, and he didn't even know if he could even fix it.

Azumi was everything he ever wanted, but he ruined it before anything could even happen between them.

He ran one of his hands through his hair. He closed his eyes and leaned his head against the door, willing their memories to disappear from his mind.

It was no use trying to think about something that wasn't going to be fixed.

* * *

She sighed as she arrived before her apartment door. She didn't mean to stay this late at the workshop. It's just that she was totally immersed in her latest project and she just couldn't stop working it. The dress was finally taking shape and she finally sewed the skirt together and only have to add the lace on top of it. When she looked at the clock, it was already 11:30!

She totally forgot to eat dinner too. Oh well, she could just grab an apple from her fridge and crash on her bed. She didn't even notice that she was tired from working on the dress.

She rummaged through her bag to look for her keys. Actually, maybe she wasn't even going to eat an apple. Her eyes was falling over and she could barely keep them open. Sleep sounded nicer than food right now.

She was still searching through her bag when she heard someone take a sharp breath from behind her. She turned around and couldn't help but be surprised by who she saw.

Of course she knew the person who occupied the apartment across from her. She had to be blind and deaf if she couldn't recognize Misaki Taro. He was one of the city's beloved players from their biggest soccer team. He was one of the reasons why the PSG was doing great this season too.

(It also helped that she knew that he was Japanese. Although she was only half, she could feel a certain connection to him because of their heritage. But then again, the only thing that was Japanese about her was her looks, and she could speak the language fluently. Other than that, she was mostly American.)

She might not watch a lot of soccer, but she tried to be up to date with PSG at least. Most of the conversations starters were about Paris Saint-Germain after all.

But honestly, finding one of their prominent players on the floor –drunk no less- was a good way to start a conversation.

She didn't know why he decided to camp out of his apartment when it was just right there, and his keys seemed to be right beside him. It shouldn't be that hard to get inside his home even when he was drunk?

But when she noticed the small frown on his face, the way his eyebrows knitted together in a despairing way, and the way his form just seemed to slouch as if the whole world just betrayed him, she realized, maybe it was hard to get in his apartment in such a state, that it was hard to get back to normal when everything just fell apart.

She bit her lip and contemplated on whether to help him. The keys was just there, and she could get him into his apartment even though it was going to be hard supporting him with her short small stature. It would do him good to sleep anywhere beside the floor. PSG had a game on Sunday, and it wouldn't be good if he was sore.

On the other hand, they barely even talked, much less know each other. Sure, she knew him but that's because of the talks she hear in school about how the girls think he was attractive, and she could admit that he was nice to look at. But he didn't know her! How in the world would he know someone like her? He didn't have time to meet his neighbor.

It's irrational that she would help him. Who knows, maybe he wakes up and he thinks that she was going to molest him or something.

Really, there was more cons than pros in helping him.

She was about to put her keys in the hole, but she stopped and sighed.

Sometimes she hated being bitch but couldn't help to give a hand to someone who needed it. Damn her for having no backbone.

She put her keys back in her bag, and proceed to walk over to him, making sure that her steps were light enough that she wouldn't wake him up. She got his keys from the floor and tried each one of them. It was a good thing that there was only a few keys with them, that she found the right one easily. Once she had the door open wide enough, she crouched down and started to work.

She threw one of his arm over her shoulder and tried to stand up. Oh god, she knew this was a bad idea. She could barely even support his whole weight, and her heels made it all the harder. But she couldn't exactly just leave him. She already started it, might as well finish it.

With great difficulty, she managed to steady both of them and they fumbled into his apartment. She made sure she got his keys from the door before going further down the hallway. She could feel his breath near her face, and it really did reek of alcohol, but she could see a couch nearby and decided to tough it out. Besides, she could feel how defined his muscles were under his shirt and it kind of felt nice.

Reaching the couch, she tried to gently put him on it, but she accidentally dumped him quite hardly. She muffled a squeak from escaping from her mouth with her hand, and she almost had a heart attack when she heard him groan. Luckily, he didn't wake up.

He did mumble a name though, and everything started to finally make sense to her.

He was heartbroken, and this was the only way he knew how to cope.

She released a sigh and went towards his feet, taking off his shoes. Its uncomfortable sleeping with shoes on, and she figured he didn't need any further pain when wakes up aside from the massive headache he was going to get.

She should have left right then. After all, she was done with what she wanted to do. It's okay for her to leave. It's time to leave before she could even make this a disaster.

But no, she just had to be too nice.

She looked through her bag and searched for her emergency painkillers. She didn't exactly want to search through his apartment for his own painkillers when she was already trespassing as she already was. But she sincerely hoped he wouldn't mind that she had to go to the kitchen to get him a glass of water. She couldn't exactly give him her water bottle. That's unsanitary.

Once she put the glass of water beside the painkillers, she took out a pen and a piece of paper. Maybe, he would understand more if she wrote him a message explaining what happened. Hopefully, he'd be nice and doesn't sue her. She didn't exactly want a restraining order.

Signing her name, she finished her message and used the painkillers as a paperweight. Making sure that he was as comfortable as he could be, she gingerly stood up from where she kneeled. She took off her heels to make less noise than necessary. Grabbing her bag and leaving his keys on the table, she proceeded to walk silently down his hallway until she was out. She peered into the apartment once more, taking one last glance at his sleeping form. Once she was satisfied, she finally closed the door.

Hopefully, he was better by tomorrow. Such a broken-hearted expression didn't deserve to be on a face like his.

End Chapter

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AN: title of story is from Walk the Moon's song called "Sidekick" which i also dont own. but give them a listen and buy their songs. They're a good band.

you might have noticed some differences with Ayame's personality but since she's already an adult by this point, i made her more mature than usual. but dont worry, her bitchiness and cheekiness will still appear, just a little toned down. also, im sorry Azumi fans! i didnt really want to make her a bad person for doing that to Misaki but i couldnt find someone that would be able to devastate our Misaki like she would. like, she's an okay character but i just dont see their chemistry and Azumi's not only lacking in screentime but in character development as well. we only know her as the "anego of france" according to Misaki too. so, i kind of took some liberties with her personality. i hope your all not angry at me.

but anyway, there's more to this story that im planning but i wont really be focusing on this that much but stay tuned?

thanks for reading and cya soon


	2. Meeting

AN: these two are going to be the death of me (tsubasa and sanae are first, then these two)

**Thao Nhi-** oh no you're fine! i'm never going to be tired of people like you. i actually love it when someone like you leave reviews. makes me all happy. yeah misaki is such a sweetheart and i didnt like how i made him all sad last chapter as well as making Azumi the bad guy. i mean, i already made Ayame before i knew about Azumi so i kinda stuck with her, plus i kinda Ayame better (im biased) because i would like to believe i made her more complex and fleshed out, more human compared to Azumi, and i dont exactly blame Azumi because Takahashi-sensei just isnt good at writing female characters most of the time. Yes, other characters from CT will appear in the near future. im just trying to establish Ayame's and Misaki's friendship because that's going to be their groundwork for their inevitable romance lol. anyway, thank you for always reading my stories 3

yeah i dont own captain tsubasa but i do own Ayame

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Chapter 2: Meeting

He opened his eyes and immediately he felt an unbearable pain hit his head. God Damn, he's hungover. He blinked his eyes to refocus his vision. He covered his eyes with his hand. The sun was too harsh for him right now and it was making his headache worse.

He gingerly got up from where he laid, which he realized was his couch. He sat up and scratched his head, looking around his living room.

Wait, his living room? His couch?

He remembered that he was drunk last night, but he could still remember that he gave up getting into his room and opted to camp out his apartment. How in the world did he get inside and got on his couch?

He looked around his room again, searching for something that would give him a clue on how he came into his apartment, but thinking deeply proved to be a horrible decision because his head throbbed even more than before.

He closed his eyes and massaged his head. He opened his eyes and they landed on the coffee table.

Huh, well that's new. The lavender paper was a clear surprise to him. He knew that he didn't own that kind of paper and he was sure that A-

He gulped unconsciously.

Azumi didn't have that kind of notes with her either.

That's right, he was drunk for a reason. He didn't expect that even the simple thought of her name would trigger what happened yesterday.

They broke up, and he didn't know they were going back together.

He blinked his eyes and willed himself to forget all those thoughts. It was better to forget about everything for a while unless he want to make his headache turn into a migraine.

It would only hurt him remembering their past together.

He took the paper under the unfamiliar painkillers, reading the note.

_Bonjour!_

_I hope you don't mind me brining you inside your apartment. I ran into you while you were sleeping outside of your home. I didn't exactly wanted to leave you outside where it was cold and uncomfortable. Not to mention, you seemed to be very drunk and… sad. I don't think you would have liked to wake up in such a position. I noticed you're keys lying beside you, and I really hope you don't get mad that I entered without your permission. I just couldn't leave you!_

_Please don't sue me. _

_Sincerely, _

_The person who lived across from you._

_P.S. I hope the painkillers help with your headache!_

Although he was a little uncomfortable that she (he's assuming that this person was a girl, judging from the neat handwriting) went into his house without his permission, but he appreciated what she did. The headache he got could have been worse if he woke up on the cold floor outside. It still throbbed, but he had a feeling he would have been throwing up if he wasn't on the couch.

Putting the paper back on the table, he grabbed the painkillers and observed it for a moment. It looked safe. It was the same brand of painkillers he had in his medicine cabinet but he knew it wasn't his. It was too light. It shouldn't be poisoned. Beside whoever helped him didn't seem to be the kind of person who'd poison anyone. He didn't want him to sue her after all. She wasn't probably trying to kill him.

Popping the lid off the bottle, he got a pill and drank it with the glass of water that was conveniently placed alongside the bottle and note. Huh, wasn't she a thoughtful person.

He could get used to this. He wasn't really used to being taken care of. He didn't usually tell his dad to worry about him when he was sick, and Azumi- Azumi never really noticed when he got sick.

This was nice.

Maybe he wasn't going to sue after all.

He glanced at the clock and almost swore out loud. It was already 11? How in hell did he sleep that long. It was a good thing that he had no training today, or else he would have been screwed. They have a match against Nantes tomorrow and he couldn't miss the work out they're going to get, no matter if it's a light one.

He felt his stomach rumble and thought about grabbing something from his fridge, but then he remembered he didn't really have anything. He was hoping that he'd be able to get groceries yesterday, but instead he wasted it in a bar, getting himself wasted.

He ran a hand through his head again and stood up, grabbing the glass along the way. A shower seemed like a good idea right now. He probably stunk like hell, and now he kind of felt bad for the person who helped him. It must have been hell bringing him in when he smelled like piss.

Putting the glass in the sink, he went to his room to grab a change of clothes and proceeded to take a shower. The hot water felt nice on his skin, and for the first time that day, he felt relaxed. He didn't think of anything at all, only soaking the comforting heat the water was emanating.

He turned the shower knob off and got out of the shower, grabbing his towel to dry himself. After putting on his clothes, he mechanically did his bathroom routine. There wasn't really anything to be excited about after all.

Making sure that his hair was dry enough, he went back to his room to get changed into new clothes. He just needed to get some food, he didn't really need to dress in anything nice. He put on a dark shirt and jeans, taking a jacket along the way. He grabbed his wallet, keys and phone before going to the door and put on his white Converse. He made sure he had his phone with him. Once he felt it in his pocket, he turned the knob of his door and went out.

He stopped in his tracks just as he was about to leave his apartment.

He didn't expect to meet her at this time of the day. And by the looks of it, she didn't even expect to meet him either. She looked to be dressed pretty casually too, wearing a green knitted cardigan over a simple white shirt, and jeans with blue ballet flats. She had her hair in a braid that laid over her shoulder neatly.

She looked… nice.

They stared at each other for quite some time, still surprise by their sudden meeting. He guessed both of them were too stunned to even say anything. They never actually met before, and both of them didn't know shit about each other.

He saw her gulp before finally speaking.

"Hi," she greeted uncertainly, looking at him warily.

"Um… hi," he answered with a small wave of his hand. He slowly got out of his apartment and closed his door, already locking it when he was in process of leaving.

"So…" she started once he was done, refusing to meet his eyes. "Um… how was- how was your sleep?"

"Oh, uh… It was alright," he replied shyly, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly while looking away from her. "It was definitely better than sleeping here outside." He finally had the courage to face her right when she turned to look at him.

And for the second time that day, their eyes met and he realized that she really had pretty chocolate eyes.

"Thank you for that," he said, "for getting me into my apartment. That really helped me. Your painkillers really helped as well."

She looked down to her feet, a slight pink flush on her cheeks. "It was no problem," she mumbled, hugging her bag close to her. "I didn't think you'd want to be sore and hungover after- after what you've been through."

What he'd been through? Could she possibly know what happened between him and Azumi? How in the world…

Was she a stalker or something?

"Not that I know what happened to you," she immediately added, looking at him again. "I mean, you were sleeping and your face looked really sad and unhappy and I just couldn't leave you when it seemed like your whole world just came crashing down on you and oh my god I need to shut up. Sorry, I don't have any right to say anything when I don't even know the whole story."

She looked away again, her cheeks redder than earlier.

He couldn't help but the smile on his face. What was he thinking? She couldn't be a stalker, she seemed too nice to be one.

"Its fine," he found himself saying. "I mean you were partially right." She was spot on actually, but he barely knew her to say that. He didn't need to burden her with his problems. "It's okay. I just… have to live through this. _C'est la vie_, isn't it?"

She turned to look him with uncertainty, clutching the strap of her bag tightly, before nodding slowly. She didn't seem convinced but he was grateful that she didn't ask any more questions.

"Anyway," he started, breaking the awkward silence between them. "Thanks again for what you did for me. I- I really appreciated it."

"It's no big deal really," she replied shyly.

There was another silence between them. Both of them didn't look at each other, as if waiting if one of them would say anything more.

"So…" he cleared his throat, "I guess I'll be going now. I'm going to grab some lunch since I really haven't eaten anything. So, I guess I'll see you sometime?"

"Oh um sure," she answered. "I'll- I'll see you."

He nodded slowly and turned to his left, starting to leave. He didn't see the way she bit her lip and the conflicted look on her face.

"Wait!" he stopped when he heard her cry out. He turned to face her, thinking if she needed anything from him. Did she want her painkillers back? If so, he could always-

"Would you-" she bit her lip nervously, "Would you like to join me? I mean, I'm on my way to get something to eat as well, and I know a nice café right around the corner..."

He didn't expect that question to be honest. It was just so… friendly for people who just met.

As if noticing his surprised expression, a panicked looked immediately crossed her face.

"You don't have to if you don't want to!" she said. "I can understand. We just met after all. We don't even know each other's names! I guess I know you since you're basically everywhere because you're part of PSG, but you have no idea who I am. Why would you even go with someone like me? God, I'm such a mess. Just ignore what I said."

He raised an eyebrow in amusement. She was actually a very interesting person, and he felt his lips curve into a smile for the second time that day.

They haven't even known each other for an hour, and already she made him smile twice and forget what happened yesterday.

Before he could even think about it, he heard himself say: "Sure."

She turned to look at him, surprise written on her face. It took her awhile before her lips broke into a grin.

As they walked down their hallway, he realized her smile was like breath of fresh air.

End Chapter

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AN: well, it has started, and it will slowly spiral down. so basically, ayame will be misaki's crutch as he tries to move on from azumi. right now, he still loves azumi and ayame will be the catalyst for him to move on. she'll be a good friend and support misaki on days when its going to be horrible and take care of him like she did last chapter. build up will be very slow so bear with me please. like i would rather flesh out their friendship first because it didnt sound right for misaki to suddenly like ayame and move from a relationship of three years, so yeah.

i guess, i'll end it here and plan this out more so i know what i'll be doing. thanks for reading and please leave a review!

PS i'll try and update _WOS_ as soon as i can and i have the motivation for it


	3. Changes

AN: really short chapter right now, but dont worry it'll get longer hopefully. its just that most the things i planned are still way in the future so please dont be mad

**Thao Nhi-** thanks! i guess the difference between misaki's and sanae's sorrow here is because misaki was ready for commitment like with responsibilities and such and he's been dating azumi for years now, while sanae in _FOLW_ was just longing for tsubasa. they're both in love but misaki's here is just more intense that what sanae felt in the beginning. Don't worry about reviewing early. Study first! Education is important, no matter how much i complain about it. stay in school. i guess the reason he didn't ask for her name was that he was going on impulse and didnt exactly know what he was doing. his body and mind was moving on their own. thanks for reading!

**HimeKanata-** yes, the perfect nickname for him! i like misaki too, but im more attached to tsubasa. he comes a close second tho. im glad you enjoy the way i write him here. i just think hes a very sensitive guy so i wrote him like that here. normally, i write him a little cheekier like i do in _WOS_ but thats because he's been hanging out with ayame too damn much. now, they're only starting to be friends so he'll get a little bit of her personality in the future. anyway, thanks for taking the time to read!

yeah i dont own captain tsubasa

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Chapter 3: Changes

Ayame was actually pretty fun to be around. He didn't know that the person who lived across from him was Japanese. Well, half-Japanese anyway. He almost didn't believe it because her Japanese sounded so authentic it was hard to believe she grew up in America at all. Her father raised her and her sisters while talking to them in Japanese to help them remember their culture. It also helped that she visited their Japanese grandfather every summer and toured around Tokyo most of the time.

It was also surprising that she knew how to speak French fluidly, which was apparently the fault of her grandparents that migrated from Quebec to America and would always speak to them in _Canadian _French (she stressed Canadian because she cheekily explained her grandfather will have an aneurism if she didn't point it out).

She still did lapse into English whenever she tried to think of something hard to translate. She mostly used it to swear though, which was amusing because she didn't look like the person who swears excessively.

He didn't expect it, but it was actually quite nice talking with her. She was very interesting.

"So what brings you to Paris?" he asked as they looked through their menu. Well, she still was. He already knew what he wanted.

"Hmm?" she said as she looked up from her menu. "Oh, I'm here studying at École de la Chambre Syndicale."

Huh, he wasn't exactly fashion savvy, but from what he heard, it was one of the hardest fashion schools to get into.

"That's amazing," he remarked once they gave their orders to the waiter, who seemed to be star struck to see him. He gave a nod to the guy and turned his attention back on her.

"I guess," she said as she leaned into her seat, crossing her arms as an annoyed expression crossed her face. "I'm not even sure how I got in. I mean, I'm not as great as all their other students. Sometimes, I think they only accepted me because of my mom."

"Your mom?" he asked.

"Yeah," she answered. "My mom's Rachel Leblanc, you know, the owner of the Royalty Fashion Line. I mean, you probably wouldn't know her since you don't look like care about fashion that much, no offense."

"None taken, you're probably right anyway," he chuckled.

She gave him a grateful smile and continued. "So yeah, I guess you could see I'm a little frustrated by it."

He nodded and let her change the subject, figuring out that she didn't really want to talk about it.

"So, what about you _Monsieur_ Soccer Star?" she put her elbow on the table and laid her chin on her palm, a cheeky smile on her face. "What made you decide that the hallway floor was good enough to sleep on for the night?"

He felt his smile drop slowly, and he tried to look away from her. He knew she didn't mean any harm from it, but he couldn't but feel a little betrayed. He thought she wouldn't bring it up, but apparently he thought wrong.

Ayame realized she asked the wrong thing and immediately panicked.

"You don't have to tell me anything if you don't want to!" she said, sitting up straight. "I mean, now that I think about it, that was a little intrusive and I didn't mean to offend you. I just thought- I just thought that you'll be okay now since you're smiling and happier since last night and-" she sighed and looked down again.

"Sorry," she apologized, looking down. "I shouldn't have ask. I can understand if you don't want to answer. I'll even understand if you want to leave. Don't worry I'll pay for your food."

He couldn't believe this girl. For someone that just met, she seemed to be really concerned about his feelings. He didn't know why, but for some reason, it made him feel glad. At least, someone cared about him.

"It's okay," he said softly. "I'm not leaving."

She gingerly looked up at him, still unsure whether he was telling the truth or not. And he almost felt sad to see the look on her face because she seemed to have accepted that he would leave.

"I guess you have a right to know," he said while looking out of the window. "I owe you one for helping me."

"It's okay!" she told him frantically. "Really you don't have to tell me if you don't want to! I mean, I was being too nosy an-"

"My girlfriend broke up with me," he interrupted her softly. He knew that she stopped talking, but he refused to look at her, refused to see the pitying look she was probably giving him.

He didn't know why, but he continued. "Told me she couldn't take it anymore and just left." He produced a dry chuckle. "It's funny too, because I was about to propose to her. I guess I was too blind to realize that I was neglecting her, that I was spending too much time playing soccer instead of being with her."

What was wrong with him? He only met her today, but he was already telling her these things.

"But I guess I just can't take that she could throw away three years of us being together away like that so easily," he confessed. "I can't exactly blame her for leaving me. I didn't think about her when I was supposed to be. So yeah, maybe I can see why she would just throw everything away.

"I think," he heard her say softly. "I think that's a little bit unfair to you. She was with you, one of the best soccer players in the world. She should have known what she signed up for. It's unfair for her to leave you all alone when I could see that you loved her with all you've got. You wouldn't get yourself drunk if she meant nothing to you after all."

He turned to her in shock. He couldn't believe her, he really couldn't. She just met him, and already she was taking his side without even hearing Azumi's side of the story. Who was she really?

"But," she said as she brought her cup of coffee to her lips, "that's just me."

He took a deep breath and stared at her as she took a sip of her coffee, ignoring his eyes on her.

It was the first day of spring, and somehow he felt that his world was going to be changing soon.

End Chapter

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AN: tada... tbh this was a little hard to write. i felt like i was repeating myself most of the time. i was probably. but i wanted to show that misaki was about to change, even though he's still in love with azumi. ayame will prove to be a big reason on why he changed hopefully for the better. he should be happier too.

anyway, thats it for tonight and hope you review tell me what you think!

PS: shameless promotion again if you read _WOS_ before coming here, but if you want to read a sexy times between tsubasa and sanae, then head on over to _Nights Like These_ in the rated M section pkay ill stop now


	4. Suits You

AN: yeah i'm alive just buried with ap tests hahahaaaa.

**Hana2-** they are very refreshing to write, since because they are adults and i have more freedom with their personalities, especially ayame. since she's an adult here, she's not as bratty as she is in _WOS_ but we can still see that she still has her sass and over dramatics. and misaki's just misaki. i mean, he's a combined canon!misaki and my misaki (imo anyway) and its just fun writing them differently

**Thao Nhi-** he doesnt really feel anything to ayame, yet per say. he just couldnt believe that she would his side right away. it would take a while for him to start liking her, or more like for him to quit denying he has feelings for her. hes going to be in a roller coaster of emotions soon. Love you too!

**HimeKanata-** hi po! im glad that you enjoy my stories. it is a little hard to see fanfictions in english in ct, but dont worry they'll be more someday. also, i dont know if youve seen it, but i have another story involving ayame and misaki called _So This is Love._ its in the same universe as both _FOLW_ and _WOS_ and it kind of tells how their relationship progressed in that universe. so check it out. and i love to write a story about matsuyama and misugi with their honey buns, its just that i cant think of a good plot for them :( sorry

yeah i dont own captain tsubasa

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Chapter 4: Suits You

It's been days since he met his neighbor, and it's been… alright. They haven't really talked that much, only saying a quick hello whenever they come across each other in the hallway. It was a little disappointing that they usually see each other just as he arrived from morning practice and her leaving to go to her school.

He guessed that's just the way how things work. It's not like their world was going to end if they didn't hang out with each other. They just met after all. It didn't really bother him that much.

But her words, her words kept appearing in his head. Never did the thought of Azumi having to hold onto her end of the relationship. He knew that it wasn't true, everything was all his fault. But something about her words just wouldn't leave him. He would be able to forget about it for a short time, but it would always come back to his mind.

And Azumi's departure was still fresh in his mind. It's been days since he last saw her, and it left him feeling miserable. Of course, during practice he didn't think about it, but when he comes home, he's always reminded of his dreams with her, of all the things they could have done, the life they could have had together.

Add it with Ayame's words, it made him a little vexed and a little irritable.

He sighed while he ran a hand through his hair, and got out of his apartment. They had a hard work out in practice today. He wanted some food, and he didn't have the patience that night to cook anything. Looks like he was eating out again.

He heard the sound of a closing door, and immediately looked up. His neighbor was out of her apartment as well, but she seemed to be very tired. Her hair was tied in a ponytail loosely, and her eyes didn't seem to be very lively. She wasn't wearing any fancy clothes, and opted to don a plain red shirt with jean capris, matching it with a beat up pair of black slip-ons. Huh, that's a surprise. Usually, she would be wearing something dressier than these. It must have been a hard day for her too.

She sighed while she gently closed her apartment door, her eyes conveying the exhaustion she was feeling. His body moved on its own, gingery walking to where she was.

"Are you- are you alright?" He heard himself ask in concern.

Ayame jumped in surprise, and turned to him with her guards up. She finally relaxed when she realized it was just him.

"Yeah," she answered softly. "Just a little tired. Finals are coming up and just stressing out a little bit over studying. I had two exams today, another one and two theses the day after tomorrow. Then I have to be finished with three designs on Saturday. I've been… busy."

Was college really that stressful? Maybe it was a good thing he didn't go to school further. The bags in her eyes didn't seem very healthy at all. Was she sure that she was okay?

"So," she quipped, a little more energized than before. "You out to grab something to eat too?"

"Yes," he answered. "I forgot I haven't shopped for groceries in a while, so my fridge is kind of empty."

"Same," Ayame agreed, disheartened. "I've been busy studying I tend to forget to eat, eat real food anyway. I think I'm going to give myself a reward and eat something that's not heated up in a microwave."

He chuckled as they started to walk away from their apartments. They talked easily, as if they haven't been away from each other for a long time. Although, she did most of the talking. He couldn't even remember what she was talking about, except it was pleasant to hear because it meant he didn't have to be plagued by his own thoughts.

The two of them stopped in front of the elevator, pressing the down button and waited for it to arrive.

"So are you going to study more tonight?" he asked as they got on the elevator.

"Oh dear God no," she cried in horror while he pressed the button for the first floor, "I don't think I'll be able to study anymore after today. My brain is fried from the exams. Maybe just work on my designs and watch Disney movies."

He couldn't help but raise his eyebrows. "Disney movies? Aren't you too old to be watching those kinds of movies?" The elevator started its descent while they continued their chat, waiting for it to ring and tell them they have arrived.

"Nobody's too old for Disney," she argued, stepping out of the elevator. "Just because someone reached adulthood doesn't mean they have to forget about their childhood."

"Well, what if Disney wasn't part of their childhood?" he questioned. They said a quick hi to Elise, the receptionist, and were completely oblivious to the bewildered look on her face.

"Then they basically didn't have a childhood," she stated sadly. "Such a poor child, being robbed of one of the things that defined our generation."

She was really passionate about this, wasn't she? Too bad, he didn't agree.

"I don't think so," he shrugged as he opened the main doors for the both of them. She gave him her thanks, and he only nodded back.

"What do you mean?" she asked while they turned to the right. The late night Parisian breeze passed through them, and it was refreshing to feel it against their skin.

"I don't think missing out on any of the Disney movies was a missed experience," he explained. "Children can still have a childhood even if they haven't watched a Disney movie. I haven't seen any of them and I had a fun childhood."

It was true, he hadn't seen any of those animated movies. With his dad moving all over the place, and him always with his friends playing soccer, he didn't have any time to watch any of those movies. Besides, he couldn't sit still for long periods of time, except maybe during soccer matches, but even then he usually does something like bounce his knees in anticipation, or jump up when someone scores. He wouldn't have the patience to watch children's movies, or any movie for that matter.

"You haven't seen a Disney movie?" she gasped in shock, as if she was deeply offended by it.

He shook his head in confirmation.

She gasped again and put a hand to her heart. "This hurts my heart," she faked a sob. "I never imagined in my life that I'm going to meet someone who haven't seen any Disney movie ever."

Okay, this was getting weird.

"It's not that bad," he tried to tell her. "At least I didn't just stay inside the whole time. I was out playing like every normal child.'

"Well, every normal child needs at least one Disney movie in their life," she retorted hotly. She suddenly stopped in front of building and he stopped as well, looking at the sign of the place.

"Finally some food!" she exclaimed while he only gave her a baffled look.

"You're getting food at a Macdonald's?" he asked in disbelief. "I thought you said you wanted to eat healthy food."

She rolled her eyes with a smile, but crossed her arms with a huff. "I said real food, not healthy food. Besides, I deserve this. I survived through two hard exams and microwave food. I haven't slept for two days and I've been running on caffeine. I can get Macdonald's if I want."

"Okay, oaky," he raised his hands up to calm her down. "I see your point. But isn't better to get something from another place? There's lots of places around here that you can grab the same food. They're healthier too."

She didn't answer him, and he had to smirk from the pout that formed on her lips.

"Shut up," she told him as she punched his arm lightly. "I'm craving Macdonald's okay," she confessed, "Leave me alone."

He chuckled as she huffed again, blowing a strand of her hair out of her face.

"Well what about you then?" she asked. "Are you going to be get something from here, or be a health nut and get something from another place?"

It was tempting actually. When was the last time he ate fast food? He couldn't remember. Maybe he could treat himself too. It shouldn't be that bad to eat it occasionally, right?

"Or Macdonald's not suited to your taste? Afraid to lose all that muscle, are you?" she teased.

Okay that's it.

"You know what," he started. "I think some Macdonald's sounds good right now. And to answer your question, no I am not afraid to 'lose my muscles', I have a fast metabolism so I'll burn all those calories right away. Besides, I'm a soccer player. A cheeseburger isn't enough to make up all those energy I burn."

He took a step towards the place, smirking while laughing internally at her jaw-dropped face. He stopped and turned to face her, and she still had that dumbfounded look on her face.

"You coming?"

She blinked twice, as if she was still processing what he asked. Then, her mouth curved into a huge grin.

Ayame ran up to walk beside him, and they both entered the store. Nothing much happened while they got their food. It was pretty late after all. Most of the tourists were that usually floods Macdonald's during the day were probably in their hotels resting, and those who actually want dinner are probably at the fancier restaurants. It was pretty uneventful, which he was thankful for. As much as he loved playing soccer, he never liked the fame that came with it.

Although there was that time when his server stared in disbelief at him for a good minute before he could even give the guy his order. Ayame wouldn't stop laughing while he tried to snap the guy out of his shock. But at least they got their orders quickly, and left the place right as they got them.

They started walking back to their building, starting to talk about the most random things. He didn't know how they got to debating about whose art style was superior between Monet and Van Gogh from discussing the pros and cons of owning your own car in Paris.

It was surreal, he couldn't believe it. Never in his life did he imagine he would be having absurd conversations like this with someone.

But he figured, these random conversation topics suited her. And he liked talking to her. She always had something to talk about, and maybe they were weird but he found that it was better than the silence he was always in.

Before he even knew it, they were standing in front of their apartment doors.

"Thanks for accompanying me," she told her as she held onto her door knob.

"No problem," he shrugged. "I got what I intended to get anyway. Even if it's Macdonald's." He held the bag before him, giving her sigh and a defeated smile.

She laughed before sticking her tongue out at him. "Hey, if it makes you feel better, the Macdonald's here are way better than the ones in America."

It was his turn to laugh, and he didn't notice the relieved smile that came across on her face.

"I guess I better get inside then," she told him once he finished laughing. "My Disney movies await, which I'm going to force you to watch one by the way."

"Looking forward to it," he sang jestingly as he slipped his key in the hole and unlocked his door.

"You can't escape me," she replied as she opened her door. "I'll leave you be for tonight, since I'm still busy after all."

"Sure," he answered as he opened his own door. He looked over his shoulder, "I'll see you around then?"

She nodded before she entered her room. He was about to do the same, when he heard her again.

"Oh and Taro-kun," she started. He turned to face her, and he was almost caught off guard by the smile she wore. He didn't exactly know why, but this one smile seemed different than all the other's she's been wearing,

"You should try and think about other stuff more," she said. "A real smile suits you."

It took him a while to process what she said, and when he finally understood it, she already wished him a goodnight and closed the door of her apartment.

He stared at her door for a couple of seconds, before his body started to move on its own and made him enter his own apartment. He sat on his couch, and mechanically put his bag of food on the coffee table before he grabbed the remote to turn on his TV. He didn't even know what he was watching.

When he was finally in the middle of grabbing a bite from his burger, only then did he realize something.

A sudden spring breeze entered his room.

The thought of Azumi never even crossed his mind, and it felt refreshing.

End Chapter

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AN: you cant have an ayame without disney okay. and i just in macdonald's because i didnt know of any other popular fast food that was really unhealthy and in paris. i mean they live in france! the food country. i just want to have a food trip in france okay.

anyway, misaki's getting there, and ayame's cheeky nature is showing. she is my sass queen after all. ugh, i cant wait until i can write all the later chapters because i am telling you its gon get heated and hot and damn sonny, they are adults i can do what i want with them. even have them do the sex. jk. idk. they're going to have really heated make out sessions tho. also, later chapters will have the appearances of the other characters and i am excite for than

so i guess this is it for right now. im going to try and see if i can write more for this and _WOS._

thanks for reading, and leave a review!


	5. At this Time of the Night

AN: i promise i'll have WOS up soon

**Hana2-** urgh, youre making me want to go to paris even more! if only i have the money, and i'm above 18. i just really want to have a tour of europe and eat. like sure i'll go to tourist sites, but come on you cant go to europe without eating all those food? i need to start saving money so before i can do this before i turn 50. also, i'll try and show other characters as soon as possible. i already have plans on who would show up first, by show up i mean, people who'd get a huge speaking part, not just see them from corner of their eyes. i think you'll be happy with them. everyone should lol. i mean, i hope.

yeah i dont own captain tsubasa

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Chapter 5: At this Time of the Night

They've actually been eating out a lot whenever they have free time. He didn't know how it happened or how their schedules even crossed, but they always found themselves eating together somehow. Whether it'd be for breakfast, or lunch, or dinner, or even just grab a cup of coffee in the afternoon, they were always together.

He didn't even know some of the places they went to even existed. She's always bringing him everywhere to eat, and he had to admit they were all pretty good. They weren't one of those high class restaurants, but they were still able to make those amazing food the French were famous for. (It was kind of ironic since he lived here in Paris before, and he should know more about these places. Instead she was the one showing him everywhere.)

In the end, they couldn't help but learn more about each other. He didn't noticed it at first, but with each passing time, he's been starting to notice little things about her, like how she liked her coffee, or how she usually cools her soup down by stirring it with a spoon. He sees how she usually wrinkle her nose at something she didn't like, or how she inconspicuously roll her eyes at customers who were rude to servers. He would see how her eyes always lit up whenever they see dogs pass by them, or the way she would scoff at guys who were showing off to girls.

He noticed all these little quirks and habits that made her seemed more real to him.

And she seemed to have picked up on his habits. She knew how what sports drink he favored to drink, she knew how he liked his steak cooked, and she knew his tendency to take his coffee with only two spoons of sugar. She even noticed the way he would scratch the back on his neck when he was nervous. He didn't even realize he does it. She also noticed how much he smiled when he talked about soccer, and everything it did for him. She didn't even say anything, and only said that it was adorable hearing him talk about something he was passionate about.

They were learning so many things about each other that he couldn't help but look forward the next time they eat together.

Though he didn't think they'll be able to do it tonight. He was invited by one of the guys to go to a club and he didn't know how to refuse. It was already late when he got home, but he made sure he didn't drink a lot. Just a few glasses of beer, nothing much. He didn't really want a repeat of the last time he got smashed. Besides, he wasn't sad about… about it anymore. He didn't have a reason to get drunk.

He quickly put on his pajamas, ready to go to bed. He should probably grab something to eat since he didn't really have dinner, but he didn't want to make something or buy something at this time of the night. Call him lazy, but the alcohol in him was making him drowsy.

He just finished brushing his teeth, when his doorbell suddenly rang.

Who would be at his door at this late at night? It was already 11:15. People should be asleep at this time. And he was sure that no one was supposed to be visiting him. If it was his dad, he would have told him he would be flying to Paris, and he would have picked him up from the airport.

Really, he didn't have an idea who this person might be.

Unless it's Wakabayashi-kun. Who knows what he did again this time. The goalie usually did have the tendency to leave Germany to run away from Schneider's pestering of him to transfer to another team. Then he freeloads around the place for at least three days before returning Hamburg, but not until he finishes all the food in the fridge and pantry.

He opened his door warily, suspicious of who might be on the other side. If it was Wakabayashi-kun, he wasn't letting him in until he promises to pay him back for all the food he was going to eat. He just did his groceries after all.

His door finally opened widely, and he blinked in surprise when he saw who exactly rang his doorbell.

"Hi!" Ayame greeted him with a huge grin. She was wearing pajama pants and an oversized sweater covered her upper body. Her hair was up in a messy bun, but she didn't seem to care about the way she looked like usual. She

"Hi," he greeted her confusedly. "What's up?"

She seemed to be rocking back and forth on her feet, a definite sign of her excitement. "Remember when I said I'm gonna make you watch a Disney movie someday?"

"Yeah…" he answered, giving her a wary look. "What about it?"

"Well, since I'm not busy anymore with school over and both of us are free right now, I decided today's the day we start your introduction to the wonderful world of Disney movies!" she declared proudly.

What? Wasn't it a little late to start a movie at this time of the night?

"T-today?" he spluttered. "Like, tonight, right this instant?"

She nodded enthusiastically. "Yup. Don't worry I made pizza and I have chips! And popcorn too, but I don't know if you'd like those."

"Isn't it a little too late to be starting a movie?" he questioned.

She scoffed and gave him that one smile that screamed "you're stupid." Okay, that was actually a little offending.

"Please," she said, "Some people start even later and don't go to sleep at all. I've started later and slept when the sun was coming up."

He felt his eyes widen at her statement. Who were these people aside from her? What do they do with their life?

She laughed in amusement at his expression. "Don't worry we're only watching one movie tonight. I'm not that mean. I know you have practice tomorrow and you need to keep awake. So if you want to sleep earlier than 1:30, we should probably start the movie as soon as possible."

"Can't I pass tonight? I'm beat," he reasoned. He wasn't exactly tired, just a little tipsy.

"Nope," she answered with a giggle. She took ahold of his wrist and began to drag him to her apartment. "So come on hotshot, time's wasting."

He was still trying to protest all the way there, but she wouldn't listen and only continued to pull him towards her home. Before he even knew it, he was already sitting on her couch facing a huge TV that had the menu screen of _The Lion King_ on it.

Ayame was in her kitchen, grabbing something, and he took this time to observe her apartment.

The layout was similar to his, having the kitchen and living room connected and was only separated by a breakfast bar. There was a hall that went to the three bedrooms and the bathroom. It was almost identical to his, except hers were positioned the opposite of his.

But once you get past that, everything else was different.

Her kitchen had more cooking utensils and spices in contrast to his almost empty one. There was a desk beside the TV with one of this Apple desktops*. The desk was also littered with sketchpads and various colored pens and pencils. There even some tiny pieces of cloths and a measuring tape on there. Close to the desk were three empty mannequins, for her the clothes she was making probably. He could really see how the place belonged to her.

And it's not just that. There were lots of decorations and trinkets all over the place that perfectly described her. Pictures were littered everywhere, showing people he didn't know. There were more stray cloths and sketches on her walls, some even had sticky notes on them. He could see a few stuffed animals on top of tables as decorations. He wasn't even surprised some of them were Disney characters he could recognize.

The room was just so bright, and vibrant, and happy he couldn't help but think it fit her perfectly.

"Sorry for the mess," her voice broke him from her thoughts. She arrived back with two steaming mugs, putting it beside the plate of pizza she made and the bag of chips. The bowl of popcorn was close to the remote, and he wondered how in the world could they finish all of these food, granted the pizza wasn't that big, but still. There were at least three bags of chips, and the bowl of popcorn was huge that even half of it seemed to be enough for the two of them. "I still haven't started cleaning up from my whirlwind of school activities so everything's all over the place."

"Its fine," he assured her, while she took a seat beside him. "I don't mind. I think it suits you actually." He gave her a teasing smile as he turned back to the TV, chuckling at the offended look on her face.

"Was that supposed to mean something?" she demanded lightheartedly.

"I don't know," he shrugged nonchalantly as he grabbed a piece of the pizza and proceeding to take a bit out of it. Hey, if she was going to offer him food, might as well take advantage of it. Besides, he was mostly sobered up from his light drunkenness and realized he was actually starving. "What do you think it meant?"

He heard her huff in annoyance but she ignored it, opting to grab another bite of the pizza. It was actually really good. He wasn't exactly of American styled foods, but he felt like he could eat this forever. Or maybe he's just hungry he was willing to gobble anything in sight.

Before he could even take a bite, she grabbed the piece from his hand and took a huge bite out of it.

"Hey!" he exclaimed. "I was eating that."

"That's for insinuating that I can't keep my room clean," she retorted as she chewed the food in her mouth.

"I didn't insinuate anything," he argued as he tried to grab the pizza from her. He didn't know why he wouldn't just get another piece from the table, she made more than enough for the both of them. Was it because of the way she childishly tried to keep it away from him, or was it because it was him who was acting like a child and falling into her trap.

He just didn't know, but he was sure he thought it was fun.

"You're the one who thought of it," he continued as he leaned into her, his hand was close to her hand that had the pizza and if he stretch far enough, he could finally grab it.

"Doesn't change the fact that you thought of it," she countered while still trying to move the pizza away from him. Too bad, he was almost a food taller than her.

He grabbed the slice from her hand and she gasped in shock, before her eyes narrowed and prepared to launch into him to grab it from him again, but before she could do anything, he shoved the whole slice down into his mouth. She gave him a disgusted look, but it stopped her from pouncing into him.

"Eww, gross," she cried as she watched him chew. "Why would you do that? That was disgusting and made you look like one of those skinny irritating teenagers who's trying to prove something."

He gulped down his food and gave his attention to her. "Well you started it. I was just eating my food and you had to take it from me."

"Hey, I made that. I can take it from you anytime," she retorted while crossing her arms.

"And leave me to starve?" He gave her his what he believed to be his expression that always got the sympathy of everyone he gave this expression to.

"Oh I can do it in a heartbeat," she scoffed and turned away from him.

Damn, that didn't work. Okay, time to kick up a notch.

He looked down and sighed, and he could see that she was glancing at him, biting her lip.

She sighed and turned to face him. "But I won't because I'm a nice person," she said. He looked up to her, a victorious smirk on his face. She rolled her eyes and threw a pillow at him, which he caught with no problem.

"Let's just start the movie," she said as she grabbed the remote. "Hope you don't mind watching in English. You gotta see it in its original form so you can see the movie in all its glory."

"What's so bad about not watching it in English?" he asked while he opened one of the bags of potato chips. God, he didn't know why he was so hungry. And why was he making himself so at home? It was- it was unprofessional and almost childlike.

But, being here in her apartment that smelled like food and sweet flowers, and with the spring breeze gently passing through her window, and her presence close by, it felt like home.

He felt like it this was his home too.

"I don't know," she shrugged as she made herself comfortable on the other side of the couch, her back on the arm while her feet was up in the empty spot beside them. "It's just… different, to me at least. Maybe it's because this was the version I grew up with, but I just couldn't really stand watching it in a different language."

He observed her while she pressed the play button on the remote, and noticed how she immediately started unconsciously humming along the music that played while they showed some castle on the screen. He couldn't help the smile the broke onto his face. She really did love these things, didn't she?

He shook his head and turned to the TV. He knew he wouldn't be able to sit through this kid's movie, but for her sake, he'll try and fidget less.

After all, if it wasn't for her, he didn't know if he'd be able to smile at all.

End chapter

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AN: it's been two months since they met, and they've actually grown pretty close. i dont know how, but for the story's purposes let's just say that ayame has this weird pull on misaki that makes him show emotions than he normally would. i hope you guys dont mind.

also, i know its been weeks since i last updated, but i got a little busy studying so sorry about that. hopefully it paid off and my ap tests will give me a core that will earn me college credit. i'll be working on WOS so im gonna try and update it soon.

*yes, i'm talking about iMacs. ayame's family is pretty loaded, what with her being a daughter of a famous fashion designer, and she does little side jobs like taking some orders from online and making them before shipping them all over the world. she doesn't make much, but one dress probably cost a fuck ton of money so you can say her bank about is pretty hella rich. that and i kind of made in my head that her school offers their services to people that sponsors them or something idk.

anyway, thanks for reading this chapter and please review! see you


	6. Last Game

AN: i got carried away

**Thao Nhi-** i feel like since misaki went through a lot when he was a child, what with his parents divorce and him moving from place to place with his dad, i dont think he had that much of a childhood, so i guess ayame just brings out the side in him we never get to see. the one not exactly in control, you know. anyway im glad you appreciate them, and love my stories, it makes me very happy you enjoy them. i usually alternate updating between this and WOS, so after this update ill be working on WOS so just hang tight i guess lol. thanks for always reading and reviewing!

yeah i dont own captain tsubasa

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Chapter 6: Last Game

"Hey, your last match is this weekend right?"

He turned to face her, holding the cup of tea she gave to him close to his face. She invited him for dinner at her apartment again, and as expected it turned into a Disney movie night. He had no idea how many movies he'd seen, but he was sure they were almost done with the princesses. Right after _The Lion King_, she showed him a few more non-princess movies Disney was known for. But, if he remembered correctly, right after the fourth movie, she popped _Snow White_ in her DVD and they've been watching princesses from that point on. They were going chronologically too, from the very first to the latest princess. If he had to be honest, he didn't think he could take another demure and typical girl frolicking in the woods or wherever. He didn't have the heart to tell it to her, because whenever he looked at her when he got a little bored, she just seemed to enjoy it so much with how her eyes twinkled or how she tries to sing the songs softly to herself. So instead he forced himself to endure the movies. He had to admit the songs were nice to listen to.

"Yeah," he answered after taking a sip from his cup, "What about it?"

"Nothing much," she replied, blowing onto her mug of hot chocolate. "It just crossed my mind."

He grabbed a piece of cookie from the plate on the table and munched on it. Damn, why was it that he was always eating when he was with her? It was a good thing he did soccer, or else he would have gained a ton of weight. And it's all her fault.

"You planning to watch?" he asked as he leaned into her couch, making himself comfortable. He sat on this couch many of times now, he felt like he should be allowed to do stuff like this. For the past two weeks, he thinks that he spent more time in her apartment than he did his. Her home was basically a second home to him.

"Nah," she said after sipping her drink. "I don't think I will. Not really a big fan of crowded stadiums in intense heat. Besides, with how you guys are doing in the league right now, tickets should be sold out by now."

That's true. Last time he heard from sales management, most of the tickets are gone. And maybe by this time, there was probably nothing left.

He finished the rest of his tea and addressed her teasingly. "You're not going online and see if someone's selling their ticket? There should be someone on eBay who doesn't want their ticket?"

She gave him a blank look. "And get myself robbed by a lot of euros? Hell no. I may have a few extra money, but I'm not going spend them on an overcharged ticket. Besides, I can always watch it on my huge ass TV."

He couldn't but chuckle at her reaction. For someone who put a lot of effort into possessing an image of elegance and grace, she had a pretty crass mouth. Granted she only put effort into her looks because of her where and what she was studying. Other than that, she pretty much didn't care at all.

"But I guess, it could be a fun experience," she added thoughtlessly as the TV started to show the oriental drawings for the beginning of _The Beauty and the Beast_. "Watching a live soccer match in _Parc des Princes."_

He stared at her for a few moments, watching as she sipped on her mug. Her lips grew into a smile as she tuned back to the movie, seemingly forgetting the conversation they just had. He didn't say anything back, and turned his attention back on the movie.

Maybe he could work something out for her. It's the least he could do for all the things she did for him already.

* * *

He wiped the sweat of his forehead with his towel. Practice just ended for the day, and even though they had the top spot for sure, their coach still had them do a hard workout. It didn't hurt to be prepared even if it was the end of the season.

"So I heard we're almost sold out for the match this Sunday," Simon informed them while juggling a ball. His fellow midfielder seemed to be more energized after the workout. He couldn't blame him, they were after all, the champions this season. Why wouldn't he be energized?

"Of course," Napoleon scoffed arrogantly. "Everybody wants to see me score the goal that'll definitely cement our place as champions." He started flexing his arms, and almost most of the team started to snicker without him looking. He might be one of their best forwards, but this season haven't been the most generous to him when it comes to goals. But then again, when he scored, it was usually the game changing goal. If it wasn't for him, they'd probably be still trailing behind Marseille for the title.

"Maybe if you actually start getting serious in training instead of making your head bigger, then maybe you'll be able to have that goal," Coach Roux's voice came from behind him. Napoleon froze before slowly turning around. He gulped when he the elderly man's glare pointed straight ahead, and immediately looked away when they met eyes.

"I am serious," Napoleon mumbled to himself while he crossed his arms. "I just perform better when it's the real thing."

"Keep telling yourself that, brat," Lindström teased as he ruffled his hair. As being the ace striker of the team as well as the oldest out of all the forwards, he shared a mentor like relationship between them, Napoleon most of all. He was retiring soon after all, and Misaki believed that Lindström wanted to pass down the torch to Napoleon. "You still to work on your personality before you can make claims like that."

Napoleon roared in rage as they all laughed at their teammate's misfortune. That's the reason why he was the butt of most of their jokes. Their team wouldn't be the same without him.

"Anyway," Coach cleared his throat and they all turned their attentions to him. "As we have clearly established, tomorrow's the last match of the season. Right now we have a four point lead against Marseille, and even if we lose this match, we are still in the top."

Misaki knew most of his teammates were smiling and grinning, and he knew he was too. It's been three years since they last had the title after all.

"But that doesn't mean I'm telling you take it easy tomorrow," Coach Roux continued. "We are Paris Saint-Germain. We play with utmost excellence and hard work in every match. Nantes might not be the strongest team out there, but we must show the same kind of play to them as we always do. _Nous sommes Parisiens_. Show them what Paris stands for."

They all cheered excitedly, his speech always managed to fire up their spirits. Added with his talent in coaching, that's what made Coach Roux one of the best coaches to ever grace PSG. The best even. But that's just his opinion.

"Moving on," Coach coughed and they all quieted down. "Juliette will be giving out the complimentary tickets to every player, and like the times before, any tickets refused will be up for sale."

Juliette, their sales manager went around the team, giving tickets to everyone. Some didn't take it, reasoning that everyone they knew that wanted a ticket would be busy tomorrow, others took them excitedly, thinking about who they were giving it too.

"Another no, this time Taro?" Juliette asked him as she reached him. He usually didn't take the tickets, he just never really had one to give too. His family was rarely in Paris, and Azumi was gone most of the times.

He gave Juliette a smile. "Not this time Juliette," he said while taking the tickets gently from her.

She immediately perked, "No way?" He gave her nod, preparing for the scene she was going to make. She's been trying to find ways for him to accept the tickets, not because it's free, but it kind of means that there's a possibility that there's someone in his life, a _significant_ someone. Never mind the times he did get tickets. Apparently his dad didn't count as a significant someone.

Juliette squealed and clasped her hands, but then her smile dropped and gave him a suspicious look.

He raised an eyebrow in confusion. What now?

"This isn't for your dad, now is it?" she asked while she narrowed her eyes at him. "You know what happens to people who pull on my leg, right? I hope you know what you're doing. This better not be for your father."

He sighed and rubbed his temples. Why was she interested with his life anyway?

"No, Juliette, my dad's not in town. If he was I would have told you right away," he answered.

Again, she got excited and squealed. This time louder than before.

"Oh my gosh!" she exclaimed and clasped her hands together. "I can't believe it! Who's the lucky lady, or man, or whatever. Hopefully, it's a girl."

He sighed again, "They're for a friend."

"But a lady friend right?" Juliette pushed on, her glasses glinting while she smiled mischievously. He gave her a blank look and was about to retort back, but he felt someone put an arm around his shoulders.

"Woah, Misaki finally took the tickets," Napoleon said as he looked down to his hands. "You finally got yourself a girl?"

Well, he had a girl, except she broke up with him two months ago. Sometimes, he regretted keeping their relationship a secret, but he couldn't do that to Azumi. The publicity will ruin her.

"They're for a friend," he repeated irritably.

"Oh, _une amie*_," Napoleon whistled. "So it is a girl. Damn, you heart breaker! So who's this pretty lady that managed to melt the heart of PSG's darling."

Taro took his arm off of his shoulder. "She's just a friend. We just met two months ago."

"So?" Simon challenged with a teasing smile, he seemed to be listening in to their conversation. "There are couples out there who hook up on the first month. Maybe even more than that."

He rolled his eyes and proceeded to get out of the field. "And I told you we're just friends. Besides, she's too much into Disney princes to like a real person." He raised his arm as he walked. "Later."

He didn't look back to see his teammates blink at each other before shrugging, but there were smirks on their faces.

Taro looked down towards his hands that held the tickets and felt a smile curl into his lips.

Now, hopefully she could help him think of something to do with this extra ticket.

* * *

"Are you doing anything tomorrow?"

He asked while they each both ate from their bowls of ice cream. He was in her living room again, and at this point he didn't even try to protest when she showed up at his door with a grin on her face. Even if they both knew he needed all the rest he could get for tomorrow's match. Besides, it wasn't even that late, and his match wouldn't start until three in the afternoon. He had some time. He'd watch this movie, even if it was about a mermaid who thinks a fork is a hairbrush.

"Nothing, why?" she replied as she proceeded to shove the spoonful of ice cream in her mouth. She gulped her food and continued, "I mean not counting me watching your match on TV and screaming my ass off when you guys fuck up. Then no, I'm not doing anything."

That's one way to say it.

"Why? Your team out to celebrate? We can cancel movie night tomorrow," she suggested, and he had to keep himself from raising his eyebrows. She seemed to think that they're movie nights are every night. But then again, it's been going on for two weeks, so maybe it kind of is. What?

"No, no. Nothing like that," he heard himself say. Why would he do that? This could have been his chance to get away from these movies. Though, if they canceled tomorrow, he wouldn't get a chance to tease her. "I was just thinking, that maybe it would be more fun for you if you can scream directly at us. You know at _Parc des Princes_."

She gave him a look, before rolling her eyes at him. "You know it's too late for me to get a ticket, and I already told you I am not paying for an overpriced ticket over eBay or whatever. There's probably no ticket left at this point." She turned back to watch _The Little Mermaid_, eating another spoonful of ice cream.

He felt his lips curl into a teasing smile. "Are you sure?" he challenged. He saw her turn back to him exasperatedly with a spoon hanging off her mouth. She had that blank look again that told him she was getting tired of his games.

She took the spoon off of her mouth and dropped it in her bowl, setting it on the table.

"Yes, I am very sure," she answered with a tired sigh.

"Really?" he continued, the teasing smile still on his face.

She huffed and crossed her arms in annoyance. "Yes, now can we please go back to the movie? We're getting to my favorite part, and I don't- _you_ don't want to miss it."

He chuckled at her slip up. Of course, she was really the only one who wanted to watch the movie between the two of them, but he didn't exactly wanted to say anything. He didn't want to ruin it for her.

"What if I told you there's still tickets available?" he said to her as he set his empty bowl on the table.

"Look, no matter what you try, I'm still n-"

"And they're free," he interrupted her. If he didn't, he wouldn't have the chance to continue.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Okay, stop, this isn't funny anymore. You're just pulling on my leg now."

"Am I?" he teased while putting his hand in his pocket and felt the tickets. Hopefully, they're not crumpled as he thought they would be. He took the tickets out of his pocket and flashed them to her.

He smirked right when her eyes widen in shock.

"No fucking way," she gaped. "How?"

He rolled his eyes just to spite her even more. "I'm a PSG player remember? I get free tickets on every home game. Although, I was just thinking of just taking one for you, but I forgot that they give us two tickets every time."

"Are you serious?" she continued to ask in disbelief.

"Yes," he sighed in exasperation. "Now, do you want it or not?"

"Of course I do!" she cried. "I'm not passing on this opportunity. Free tickets for a PSG game. Hell yeah!"

He chuckled as she excitedly took the one of the tickets from him, her face glowing with glee. She looked like a child who got their birthday presents.

"Anyway, do you know how to get rid of this other one? If not, I guess you could sell it online or something," he said as he rubbed the back of his neck.

She looked to be thought, before perking up. "Wait, I might know someone who'd like to go." Immediately, she grabbed her phone on the table and scrolled through her contacts. She tapped on it before bringing it up to her ear. She took the remote from her table and paused the movie.

"_Bonjour, Clau,_" she greeted, "_C'est Iris…_"

He listened as she talked to someone on her phone, asking the person if she'd like to go with her tomorrow to the match. The person seemed to not believe her at first, but once she explained everything, there was another huge smile on her face.

She ended the call, and turned to face him, the smile still on her. He couldn't help but return it and the before he knew it, she threw her arms to him for a hug.

"Thank you so much," she whispered to him.

He was surprised by her sudden actions. It was the first time he had contact with a girl, ever since he broke up with Azumi, and he didn't know exactly what to do. But his body moved on its own.

His arms wrapped themselves around her petite form.

"You're very welcome," he replied with a chuckle.

He thought it felt nice as he unconsciously realized how her body seemed to fit into his arms.

* * *

He looked up to the stands, searching through the thousands of people watching their last match of the season. He knew she was going to be here, he made her promise after all. But, something inside him just needed to make sure, to see that she actually did come.

He stopped suddenly at one place.

He didn't know how he found her, there she was, beside a blonde haired girl who was talking to her. She was wearing a white printed tank top and jean shorts with sandals. Her hair was in two braids that laid over her shoulders, probably showing off the design of her shirt in the back. Of course, even in a place like this, she would still show off her fashion sense.

She seemed to have realized that he was looking at her, and turned to his direction. He waved his hand in greeting, and immediately a huge grin broke onto her face. He saw her give him two thumbs up in support, and he couldn't help but the smile that formed on his face.

Simon patted him on the back and informed him they were starting soon. He told him he'll be there soon before giving one last look at the stands, catching one last glance of her as she waved her hand to him. After that he immediately ran after Simon, pumped to start the game.

Once, the whistle blew, the game went on with PSG dominating the whole time, him leading the offense.

The game ended 5-1, with one goal from him and three assists. There was no denying the cup title was theirs.

He realized once the match ended, that was one of the best times he had ever played in his life.

End Chapter

* * *

AN: arent they just adorable? also i dont know how all the tickets stuff, and i literally pulled it out of my ass, so im very sorry if its wrong. my french is also a little rusty so sorry if i botched it.

*french used gendered nouns and pronouns, so i dont know if i translated it right but when misaki said they're for a friend, it's supposed to be for _une amie_, which is the term used for a female friend for all you non-french speaking people out there. i dont know if its right though so please forgive me.

its one in the morning i should probably go to bed. thanks for reading and cya soon.


	7. Don't Look Back

AN: more than 6000 words damn. here you go

**Hana2-** thanks for always reading! i mean, i know that you'd probably rather read WOS but i really appreciate it that you still read this. thank you, thank you, thank you! ILU

**Thao Nhi-** lol it should have. but "part of your world" seems like a good song to do it to. i dont think misaki can just forget azumi that easily. i mean they were together for three years, and many more when misaki went to france. its kind of hard forgetting that (it sounds like i have infinite wisdom in this subject when i havent even had a relationship before lol) misaki will get there, i promise. he just needs to get his shit together. thanks for reading and reviewing!

**HimeKanata-** hello! i know right. i wish i can get free tickets to a soccer game. Especially Barça tickets. man the things i'll go through for free stuff. anyway, Ayame just manages to bring the other kind of sweet side of Misaki. I mean, maybe Azumi did too, but Ayame's a different story. she's Ayame. she does miracles to people. (ha, miracle. see what i did there. because her last name means miracle in japanese? no? okay shutting up now) thanks for reading and hope you review again!

yeah i dont own captain tsubasa and shut up and dance

* * *

Chapter 7: Don't Look Back

Why did he even need to bring a date to this party? It's not like he could bring anyone now that he was single. Besides, this was an awards ceremony that'll probably have a ton of paparazzi lurking around to get a scope or a scandal, and he was not in the mood to deal with all that shit.

He did thought of going alone, really. But he made the mistake of getting caught smiling at stands when he scored his goal on their last match, looking at Ayame by Napoleon of all people. Now the ass wouldn't stop bothering him about her. He even managed to see her because Ayame just had to wave at him at that moment, and being the idiot that he was, felt his smile widen and wave back. Napoleon being Napoleon, would not quit teasing him about Ayame and would not stop pestering him to introduce her to them. He wanted him to bring her to this event because apparently, it was the perfect time to show the world who "melted" his heart. He already told him that they weren't dating, but the asshole refused to believe him.

Besides, it's kind of awkward if he asked her to accompany him. He didn't even know if she'd agree. They've just met about three months ago! He couldn't just ask her something like this when they barely even talked before. Granted, she probably knew more about him than people who already knew for years, and maybe it was the same for him, but he didn't want her to get mobbed by dozens of paparazzi's just because he asked her to go with him to this stupid event. All the gossips and lack of privacy will ruin her peaceful life.

But if Ayame didn't go with him, Napoleon would never stop bothering him, which was almost as bad as reporters that didn't know how about the idea of privacy.

Maybe he just didn't go at all. Make up an excuse like being sick or something. But everyone in the team could probably call his lie and come to his apartment where they would find him staying at her apartment, watching Disney movies and pigging out because it's not even a question, they'd knock on everyone's doors asking if they know where he went. The first door they'll go to will be hers, and find out what exactly he was doing before smirking and dragging him to his own apartment, then they'll tease him while they force him to change into a suit. Really, not going will bring more harm than going at all.

Plus, Coach Roux will kill him if he didn't appear.

"What's wrong with you?" Ayame's voice drifted to his ears. "You look like you're constipated."

He gave her a deadpan look, before sighing and taking a sip of his coffee. He wasn't in the mood right now to deal with her antics.

"Okay…" she said warily, "Wrong thing to say." She sipped on her frappe and gulped before continuing to speak. "I know something's bothering you. I mean, sure you don't usually say anything because I never shut up, but at least you chuckle or laugh. And frankly, you're frown doesn't suit you."

He peered up to her, a smile gracing the corner of his lips. Of course, she would be able to make him smile in a situation like this.

"So what's the prob, hotshot?" she said as she pushed her drink away from him and leaned on the table, her arms supporting her. "You can tell your gal pal anything."

He set his cup on the table and chuckled. "It's not really a big deal," he tried to shrug it off. And when he actually thought about, it really wasn't. He was just making a huge deal over it.

"Not buying it," she sang as she grabbed on her drink and sipped on the straw. "When a person had the same look as you did just a while ago, they either have a dilemma they couldn't figure out, or well, constipated."

"Will you quit this talk about constipation?" he asked while he wrinkled his nose, "That's disgusting." He didn't really care. His friends in high school made worse talks than this.

"But that's what you looked like!" She insisted. "And don't change the subject!"

He sighed, knowing she wouldn't drop it no matter what he did.

"It's silly," he said.

"A problem is never silly," she replied. "Even more if it's actually making you frown like that."

He stared at her long and hard, but she didn't seem to mind and continued to sip on her frappe. She didn't know that his problem concerned her. And he didn't want her to hate him just because he brought her to something that would ruin all the privacy she ever had.

He ran a hand through his hair. "We have an 'end of the league' party coming up. Everyone that was part of the tournament's expected to come, as well as dozens of reporters," he confessed. "And everyone's forcing me to bring a date."

"O…kay?" she trailed. "Why is that a problem? I'm sure there are lots of ladies out there who'd be willing to go with you."

"But I don't know them," he replied. "I barely talk to girls, and most of the girls I know are in Japan. And the only woman who I actually talk to and wanted to bring broke up with me. I haven't even seen her since then."

"Well, you better start hooking up with different girls then buddy," she advised nonchalantly while she again took a sip on her drink.

"Sure because it'll be easy to find someone in two days," he snorted sarcastically. "Besides, Napoleon saw you watching at the match with Nantes and he wouldn't stop pestering me to bring you."

"Me?" she raised herself from her drink. "Why?"

"He and most of the team are convinced we're dating," he sighed.

"But we're not," she said with scrunched eyebrows.

"That's what I told them," he groaned. "But they won't believe me no matter what I say. They still want you there this weekend, and I can't skip this because one: Coach will kill me; two: I'll probably have an award; and three: they'd come to my apartment to drag me through the party, but they won't find me there because I'll be at your apartment, eating whatever junk food you're feeding me. They'll find me in your home while wearing watching whatever animated movie you'll be forcing me to watch because they're going to knock at everyone's doors and when they see us on your couch, the more they're going to believe we're dating."

He was panting hard by the end of his rant, which was weird because he never ranted. In fact, this was the first time he felt rattled and ranted about it to someone.

"Dang," she said as she finished her drink. "You really thought about this didn't you." She pushed the empty plastic cup out of her way and put her elbow on the table while she put her chin on her hand. "Hmm…" she hummed in thought, her fingers were drumming on her face as she stare at him with a pout.

"You know," she started, "You can just bring me."

He knitted his eyebrows in confusion. "Um… what?"

"Just bring me, like as a friend," she repeated. "I'm bored anyway, and I don't really want to go back to New York yet. School hasn't contacted me for any clients, and I'm too lazy to do commissions. I might as well go to your party and have some fun."

"You're serious?"

She shrugged nonchalantly. "Yeah. I mean why not? If I'm there, I can clear all their misconceptions about us dating, and maybe I can snag a hot soccer dude while at it. It's a definitely a win-win situation for the both of us."

"What about the reporters that are going to be there?" he asked in worry. "Are you sure you're going to be fine with them around. Once they see you with me, they're not going to leave you alone."

She gave another shrug. "My mom's been famous enough to gather her fair share of reporters lurking at any corner. I grew up surrounded by them. I'm sure I can handle them."

He was staring at her again, trying to figure out what she was thinking, but he couldn't read anything when she was just smiling, watching the people passing by them.

He sighed in defeat. "Fine," he said, "I'll bring you with me. Just make sure you don't go crazy."

She giggled in victory. He sighed again but he gave her a smile in reply.

"And wear something nice," he added as an afterthought. He didn't know if she managed to figure it out that it's a formal event, but it was better to make sure.

"Oh don't worry, superstar," she chuckled. "I'm going to look so nice, I'm going to make your jaw drop."

* * *

He fixed his tie one last time, making sure that it was in place. He was standing right before her door, ready to pick her up. He didn't know why he was so nervous about this. It wasn't like they were going on date. He was just bringing her as a friend because he didn't have anyone to bring with him, and he didn't really have a choice.

So really, he didn't have to be nervous about this.

Taking a deep breath, he rang her doorbell. He heard a series of footsteps and the shuffling of locks before the door finally opened to reveal her.

He felt himself take a deep breath.

He didn't know what he was expecting, but this certainly was a great surprise.

She had a black dress on, with lace sleeves ending a little below her elbows. She still wasn't wearing any shoes, but somehow she made it work. Half of her hair was up while the others fell down her shoulders in loose curls. It was the first time he saw some part of her hair down, and he couldn't believe that it was that thick and long. If it wasn't curled, it probably reached the end of her back.

"Oh hey there hotshot," she greeted with a smile. "Don't you cleanup nicely."

He shrugged his shoulders. "Gotta look presentable somehow."

She rolled her eyes in mock exasperation, the grin still present on her lips. She got out of the way to let him in. "Come on in," she said as he passed the door. "I still have some stuff to do so I hope you don't mind. Just grab a spot on the couch and I'll try and be as quick as possible."

He watched as she hurriedly walked away from him, leaving him to fend for himself. It was alright, he probably knew her apartment like the back of his hand with how much time he spend his time here.

He walked to her living room, taking a seat on the couch like she said. He didn't really know how long she was going to take, so might as well do what he was told.

He didn't know how long he waited, but it got too long he had to open her TV and started to watch a replay of an old Barcelona game. He's seen it before, but it was still nice to see Tsubasa just being his amazing self.

Though, as much as he wanted to see more of this match, he was starting to wonder where Ayame was. He's been watching for almost 15 minutes and she still wasn't getting out of her room. He didn't know what she needed to still do to be honest. When he saw her at the door, he thought all she needed was shoes and they can go.

He leaned his head back over the top of the couch, trying to peer into her bedroom. "Are you done, yet?" He asked. "You've been there for almost 20 minutes."

"Hang on, I'm almost done," she called out while he heard a spray coming from her room. "Sheesh, you're a little impatient today."

He scowled lightheartedly and turned back to the TV. "Well, you told me to you'll be quick. You never said you'd take this long."

"I said I'd _try _to be quick," she answered cheekily. "And don't worry. I just have to put on my shoes and I'm really going to be done."

"It better be," he muttered to himself.

A few moments later, he heard heavy footsteps coming from the hallway and he released a sigh of relief. Finally.

He turned off the TV and got up from the couch to face her. He couldn't help holding his breath when he saw her.

Her hair was up in a loose side bun, but it seemed tight enough that it was holding up without falling apart. There were a few stray strands of her hair that was curled loosely, framing her face. She didn't have a lot of makeup on, and it only served to highlight her features even more, bringing out her chocolate eyes that made her look livelier than ever. One of her hands was holding a clutch bag, probably had some of her stuff like her phone or whatever. She had on some ridiculously black high heels, making her stand a few centimeters below his eyes. Nevertheless, it only complimented her outfit even more.

"See," he heard her giggle. "I told you I'll be able to make your jaw drop."

He blinked, coming back to his senses before chuckling. "I never said you wouldn't be."

"But you still thought I wouldn't be able to," she retorted.

He ignored her remark and chuckled once more. "You look amazing."

"Thank you," she replied, flushing lightly and looked away from him as she played with a strand of her hair. He smiled and asked her if she was finally ready. She gave him a nod, and both of them left her home.

"Did I really just take 20 minutes?" she asked while they rode the elevator towards the basement parking lot. They were going to be taking his car to the place. At least this way, they could go home whenever they wanted.

"Maybe a little more than that," he answered honestly. "Why?"

"I'm just surprised," she replied lightly. "Usually, I take 45 minutes to do my hair and makeup. But then again I already had half of my hair curled when you came."

"45 minutes?" he repeated in bafflement as the elevator opened. "Damn, that's a lot of time."

"Hey, I can't help it. I have to look perfect. I can't call myself a fashion major if I caught myself leaving without any sense of style. Besides, I want to catch a ton of guys' attention. A girl's got to do what a girl's go to do."

"You'll grab their attention alright," he whispered to himself while he led her to his car. It's not even going to be a debate. Everyone will probably have their eyes on her.

He pressed the unlock button on his car remote, lighting up as it confirmed to him that it unlocked. They stopped right by it and he opened the passenger door for her, turning to her to tell her she can get in. Though he didn't except to see the expression on her face.

"That's your car?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah," he answered with knitted eyebrows. "Something wrong?"

"Nope!" she answered. "In fact, this is cool! You own a Porsche, like how is this not awesome."

"You seem excited over this," he remarked as she finally entered. He quickly got into the driver's side, chuckling as her eyes lit up in excitement.

"How can I not?" she giggled while they put on their seatbelts. "It's not every day you get to ride a sports car of this caliber."

He chuckled as he put the car in reverse, turning his head to look behind and backing it up to get out of the parking space. "Shouldn't this be normal for you? Your parents are rich, right?"

"Well, they are," she confirmed while he drove out of the basement parking. "But my _Papi_ worked at General Motors* when they moved to Michigan and Dad's Japanese, so cars need to be either an American car or a Japanese car. Now that I think about it, we never owned a sports car. Not even a Camaro* or a Corvette*. We mostly owned SUVs."

"That's weird," he said as he got into the road. It was a good thing he managed to get out quickly, or else they'll stuck in traffic for a long time.

"I guess it can be," she said. "But I guess it's our way of supporting local businesses. Even if most car companies are moving to China."

He had to laugh at her statement. Expect her to bring something like that.

"So what's the plan for tonight?" she asked as she leaned into her seat. "Is it just a rave party with an open bar or something?"

"No, we have dinner," he answered while turning on his turn signal. They just needed to make a turn here and they'll be in the venue in approximately five minutes. "Then they give out the awards, people say their speeches, then they'll open the bar and the dance floor."

"And it ends at what time exactly?"

He spotted the hotel and saw some of teammates passing their car keys to the valets. He could see the reporters and photographers, their cameras flashing without any stopping.

"It depends," he answered as he got into the line for the valet parking. "Usually people start to leave close to midnight. Some don't leave until one."

"Sounds like a good time," she remarked. He smiled and parked the car. The valet stood outside of his car, waiting for them to get down.

"Ready?" he turned to her. The cameras flashed outside, ready for them to see him and to see her as well.

She turned to look outside and released a deep breath. "Ready as I'll ever be."

He reached out his hand to take hers, running his thumb over the back of her hand. "I can always bring you back if you don't want to do this."

She whipped her head to look at him, a disbelieving look on her face. "Are you kidding me? I spent four hours getting ready for this. I'm ready to get smashed and pick up hot guys tonight."

He felt his lips quirk into smile. "If that's the case then," he said as he let her hand go. "Let's go."

She nodded, a smile on her face.

They opened their doors, the valet taking over once his door opened. He got out as fast as possible, giving him the keys and taking the valet ticket from him. He quickly went over the other side to where she was. Ayame was already looking down, trying to keep her face hidden from prying eyes.

He unconsciously wrapped an around her waist while shielding her from the camera's flashing glares, touching the naked skin of her back, and led her up the hotel steps. They got into the hotel and immediately were ushered to the main ballroom where the event was to be held.

"Stay close to me," he whispered to her as they went into the ballroom.

"Don't worry," she said. "I'll be attached to your hip."

He heard himself chuckle, but as she said, he could feel her close to him. He started to lead the both of them to their table, wanting to get there as soon as possible, but as expected not everything always goes according to plan.

People began to notice his arrival, and started greeting him. He greeted them all back a pleasant smile on his face. Ayame would only nod once they start to notice her, a shy smile on her face.

People have also started to stop him to chat, and knowing him, he could never refuse. It was a good thing they didn't last more than a minute, but when one ends, another person would come. When he thought it was the last one, it still wasn't.

Immediately, someone from another team spotted him and began to talk to him. The two of them started to chat, and he could feel that Ayame was starting to get uncomfortable with how much she was fidgeting.

Jean excused himself to his relief, saying something about seeing one of his teammates and he had to greet him. He told him he didn't mind and let him run along.

"You sure are popular," Ayame whispered to him as they began to look for their table once more. She decided to hold onto his arm for now, so they wouldn't get separated at this huge of a crowd.

"What do you expect, I make friends easily," he replied. He heard her chuckle over his shoulder, and his smile just grew wider.

"Well, well, well, look who finally appeared," Napoleon's voice reached his ears. Misaki turned to his side just to see his teammate, accompanied by his a girl he didn't know. Probably another one of his conquests. "Taro Misaki in all his glory. The ladies are probably swooning with joy inside their frail hearts."

"Shut up," he ordered jokingly as he walked towards him. "They're not doing any of that."

"If that's what you believe, my friend," he continued to tease. Then he finally noticed Ayame who was holding onto Misaki. Immediately, his eyes lit up. "And who's this? Is this really the girl who I saw in the last match? The mythical girl who finally melted your heart?"

Ayame couldn't help the laugh the bubbled out of her chest. Misaki gave her a light glare and she slowly subsided her laugh into chuckles.

"What is there to melt?" she jested while giving him a wink. "Taro's actually a pretty sensitive guy."

"I'm not," he whined. He was a little annoyed that she was going with this, that she didn't exactly explain that they're just friends.

"All the ladies out there would beg to differ," Napoleon retorted with a smirk. "People have tried to catch his attention to no avail. It's a miracle you even managed to."

She giggled and let his arm go. "Well, certain circumstances made both of us catch each other's attentions. Times pass which brought us to get know each other better, that then led us to this situation where I was brought here as a last resort because he couldn't find anyone to bring."

"Hey, you volunteered to come," Misaki interjected.

She ignored his statement. "Being the good friend that I am, I just had to agree."

She looked at him from the corner of her eyes, giggling as she saw the slight glare he was giving her. He could only sigh and turned back to his teammate, who was raising his eyebrow in amusement with a smirk present on his face.

"Anyway," he interrupted before any of them could speak. "This is Ayame Kiseki. She's my neighbor, and my date, who _willingly_ agreed to come with me tonight. Ayame, Louis Napoleon."

Both of them shook hands pleasantly.

"You can just call me Iris," she said. "Ayame's a little hard to say. I mean, that's what my name means anyway."

"Well, nice to meet you then Iris," Napoleon replied. They released their hands and Napoleon turned to look at girl that was accompanying him. She was looking down mostly, and seemed a little timid. She was dressed pretty modestly too. She was a big contrast to the girls that Napoleon previously brought to these gatherings.

Napoleon brought his hands on the girl's shoulders, and pushed her forward lightly, causing her to produce a small "eep!" surprise.

"This," he said, "is Marie. My childhood friend, and also my 'date'. She's finally back in town after studying abroad for a year."

"H-hello," she greeted them shyly, a slight blush on her face. He and Ayame shook her hand, greeting her back. He still couldn't believe that Napoleon has a friend like her, because she didn't seem like the kind of person who'd hang out with him. But then again, who was he to judge?

"I'm actually in the same boat as you," Ayame told the girl. "Well, was in your case. I'm from America originally, but I wanted to study fashion here so, here I am." That made Marie smile, her previous discomfort disappearing a little bit. Ayame always knew how to make people relax. "I hope you don't mind me asking, but where did you exactly go to?"

"I, um, I was an exchange student at New York University in America," Marie answered softly, looking down in shyness.

Immediately, Ayame's eyes lit up. "Really, that's awesome! I came from NYC. Oh you have to tell me…"

Ayame left his side, and proceeded to go to chat with Marie. Though the girl seemed a little uncomfortable with how easily Ayame was talking to her, but little by little, she started to relax and was laughing along with Ayame easily.

"So," he heard Napoleon start from beside him. "'Good friend' huh?"

Misaki rolled his eyes and turned to him. "Yes. I told you we're just friends."

"Didn't look like it to me," Napoleon sang as he turned back to watch Marie and Ayame animatedly. "You guys seemed too close to just be friends."

Misaki rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "What about Marie then?" he knew that was a low blow, but for once Misaki just wanted to gain an advantage over his asshole of a teammate. "You guys looked closer than just childhood friends."

Napoleon gave him a glare. "Dude, she's like my sister!" he retorted. "I've known Marie since we were two. We grew up together. That's just gross."

He snorted. He already seen too many childhood friends grow into something even more to know where this was going. "That's what they all say," he sang.

"Man, you're gross," Napoleon repeated with a disgusted face.

"Who's gross?" A familiar voice entered their conversation, and they didn't need to turn around to see who it was.

"Apparently I am," Misaki answered nonchalantly. "Hey Pierre." He greeted their friend. The Bordeaux player said his hello to them and finally signaled for him to continue. "Napoleon thinks it's disgusting that I even thought of him and his childhood friend to have a relationship more than just friendship."

Pierre took a glance at where Marie and Ayame were still talking, before returning his attention back to them. "You too huh? I noticed when Marie went to one of the National Youth Team's game and he literally ran to her when the match ended."

Misaki stared at him for a while, before busting out laughing while Napoleon raged at the French Team Captain.

"More importantly…" Pierre started, completely ignoring Misaki's raging teammate. "Who's the other girl talking to her? I don't think I've seen her before."

This time, Napoleon smirked. "Oh, she's Misaki's date. Excuse me, _good friend_ I mean."

Pierre gave him a stare, and Misaki only gave him a sad smile before shaking his head. Only a select few knew about his relationship with Azumi, and Pierre was the only one who wasn't Japanese. It was mostly by chance, he saw him and Azumi in Bordeaux when they were just beginning their relationship. And he guessed he'd be one of the few who know that they broke up.

"She looks pretty," Pierre remarked, turning back to Ayame who was giggling over something, probably one of the jokes she gets easily amused by. "Where'd you guys meet?"

"She's my neighbor," Misaki answered simply.

"Your neighbor?" Pierre raised an eyebrow. Somehow, he believed that there should be more to this than what Misaki was telling. "There's got to be more than that."

"I just met her three months ago. We're only friends," Misaki said exasperatedly. "Why is everyone trying to look deeper into this?"

"Probably because you're never seen with someone," Pierre replied with a shrug, choosing his words carefully. Misaki might have broken up with his previous girlfreind, but knowing him, he'd probably still wanted the privacy. "And now you're out with someone like her, who looks pretty gorgeous by the way, good choice, people asking what kind of relationship you guys have isn't even a question."

"We're just friends," he repeated and he had a feeling he'd be repeating a few more times tonight.

Before any of his two friends could say anything anymore, someone spoke over the speaker and asked them to take their seats. The three of them (with their dates) already knew that they were going to be in the same tables again, probably because they were good friends and mostly because Pierre knew how to pull a few strings. He wasn't complaining, he's comfortable, and he's sure Ayame would rather have Marie with them so she could talk to someone. They seemed to have grown close in that short amount of time.

They were about to go to their tables, but he saw something from the corner of his eyes that made his head turn.

He felt his heart stop.

He saw _her,_ Azumi holding onto Marcel's arm. She had a bright smile on, something he's been missing ever since three months ago. She looked so perfect, and happy, and totally different from the last months they shared together.

She was beautiful, like always, maybe even more and his chest started to hurt thinking that it was him that took away that happiness.

"You okay?" he felt someone grab onto his sleeve, and returned back to his senses. Ayame was looking at him with worry and he could only gulp, giving her a shaky smile.

"Y-yeah," he answered. "Just… just remembered something." She didn't look convinced, but he didn't let her ask any more questions and led both of them to their table.

He still couldn't help looking back just to catch another glimpse of Azumi.

Dinner was served just as everyone took their seats, and they all started chatting once more. Ayame was finally introduced to Napoleon and his date for the night. He tried to join in the conversation, but his mind wasn't on it, and he was thinking about Azumi instead.

She wasn't sitting near them, but she was a few tables away from them that he could still have a good view of her. He badly wanted to go up to her, to talk to her, and ask how she's been, but it seemed like he didn't have to know because he already knew the answer it. He wanted ask how was it that she looked happy, while for weeks, he couldn't stop thinking about her, about them, about how they used to. He wanted ask her to take him back.

All these thoughts and feelings he just buried not too long ago, was resurfacing back and its making him cloud his thinking. It was making his chest hurt and miss her so bag again, he wanted to have her in his arms again.

"You're definitely not okay," Ayame's voice brought him back again. "You're not even eating your food."

He looked down to his plate, and sure enough his filet mignon. He was gripping his fork too tightly his knuckles was turning white. Immediately, he relaxed his hold.

"I'm fine," he said quickly, picking up his knife and started to cut his meat.

"No you're not," Ayame said easily, taking a drink from her glass of champagne.

He sighed, "I really am, Ayame. Please stop."

She looked at him from the corner of her eyes, before sighing as well and returning to her food.

He kind of started to feel bad for telling her off like that. He knew she was only trying to help, but it wasn't the time or the place, and he didn't to talk to anyone about this, even if she already knew his recent break up with Azumi and how it ended up for him.

Conversations around the table went pleasantly, even though he tried so hard to focus on what everyone was talking about and not drift to think about his ex who was just a few meters from him. Ayame was barely looking at him, and he knew she was irritated with him. He knew by the way her smile was forced and tight lipped while she had her arms crossed.

He sighed once more and wanted to run a hand through his hair. He was starting to think that this night won't be bad as he thought it would be, but right now it was proving to be disastrous.

Dinner finally ended and the ceremony finally began. He was distracted for most of it, he was trying to stop himself from staring at Azumi. He barely remembered clapping for Lindström as he was crowned MVP for the second time of the year, and for all the other people that got awards.

Before he even knew it, the awards ended and the dance floor was opened.

The girls immediately took the chance to jump in and dance, and he was sure Ayame was just itching to finally be able to find a guy she was looking for. Pierre and Napoleon stayed with him for a more minutes, finishing their drinks before joining in with the people dancing. They asked him if he was coming, but he refused, telling an excuse that he was going to get himself drunk first before jumping into the crazy.

But that's a lie, he knew. He's drank about four glasses of beer now, and it was enough to get him intoxicated. He didn't feel like fooling around, not when _she _was just in his peripherals to see that Azumi was happy without him.

He was playing with his glass, probably his sixth for the night but he didn't care. He was too caught in his misery to do anything.

"Really, you're still here?" He looked up to see Ayame, panting. She was probably taking a break, it has been a couple of minutes since the dance floor opened. She sounded a little tipsy too, but not bad enough to say she was drunk. "Come on, hotshot. It's your night. At least go have some fun!"

He gave her a small smile. "I don't really feel like dancing tonight."

"You don't mean that," she said while taking her seat beside him. "The long season's over, PSG won the league title. It's time to celebrate!"

"I know," he admitted. "I just…" he trailed off, unconsciously turning towards Azumi's direction. "I'm just not in the mood to celebrate I guess."

He heard Ayame sigh and click her tongue.

"Okay, your attitude right now is really starting to piss me off," she declared while he turned to her in shock. "I didn't want to bring this up and was waiting until we get home to ask what made you become a kill joy right before dinner, but this is a good time as any time."

She grabbed his glass from his hand and slammed it on the table. "Talk," she ordered. He looked at her slack-jawed, and speechless at her actions. She seemed to have misunderstood why he wasn't talking, so she continued. "I'm not leaving you until you speak Misaki. So speak up or I'm going to bitch at you when I don't get a hot guy's number tonight."

Well, that certainly wouldn't be his fault. He didn't tell her to stay with him.

But she really wouldn't leave him alone, and her bitching at him was going to be awful.

He sighed and ran through his hair.

"She's here," he confessed, licking his lips in apprehension. "Azumi's here, and I- I don't know what to do."

He turned towards Azumi again. Ayame followed his gaze, and he turned away when Azumi's smile just widened as she danced with Marcel. It hurt to see her so happy like that.

In turn, he failed to see the way Azumi's eyes landed on him over Marcel's shoulder. He didn't get to see the way Ayame's eyes narrowed and her lips tightened in a straight line.

He saw her move from the corner of his eyes, and only turned to her quickly with wide eyes when she suddenly grabbed his glass half full of beer and chugged it down like it was water.

"Well, guess what buddy," she said to him once she slammed his glass back down. "I know what you're going to be doing. You're going out there with me, and show your ex what she's missing."

She didn't give him any time to say anything. She suddenly stood up, she pulled on his arm as she dragged him to the dance floor while a new song started.

"Come on!" she giggled, "I love this song!"

"W-wait!" he tried to protest, but he couldn't do anything because all of the sudden they found themselves in the middle of the dance floor.

His hands immediately wrapped themselves on her waist, and she started swinging her hips to the beat of the song.

"I don't want to do this!" he screamed to her over the loud bass. "Ayame!"

"Shh!" she put a finger on his lips. "_Shut up and dance with me_!" she sang along before falling into giggles. He sighed and finally gave in, knowing that she wasn't letting him go.

He started to realize what the song was. He remembered hearing this around her apartment when she played music on her iMac when they eat lunch together at her apartment. He looked at her as she swayed and danced to the song, having the time of her life. Without him knowing, a smile formed on his lips and before he knew it, he was dancing along with her, laughing merrily with her.

He didn't notice Ayame looking over his shoulder, nor did he see Azumi's lips forming a frown from behind him

Suddenly, he sensed someone staring at him. He was about to turn around to see if there was someone staring at him, but he felt Ayame's hands suddenly cupped his face to make him look at her.

"_Oh don't you dare look back_," she sang to him with a tipsy smile. "_Just keep your eyes on me._"

His lips formed a smile of their own. He couldn't help it, and joined in. "_I said 'you're holding back.'"_

She grinned wider and moved her hands to wrap around his neck to hug him. "_Shut up and dance with me!"_

He didn't manage to see Ayame open her eyes and look directly at Azumi's eyes.

He smiled even more and hugged her as well, swaying them together to the beat. She pulled away from him, her smile never faltering. They stared at each other for a while, before she put one of her hands behind his head.

As the last line of the song came to a close, Ayame pulled his face towards hers.

End Chapter

* * *

AN: ayame's such a schemer and a bitch but i love her for it. though i do wonder what ayame did at the end. huh, i guess we'll find out next chapter. so i'll just leave this for everyone...

*this is based on experience i guess. like i said, ayame's grandpa was french canadian and they moved to Michigan right after WWII probably. Almost everyone worked at GM, which is a multinational car corporation. they own car brands like Chevrolet and Buick and many more. since everyone worked at GM, many of older generation would rather stick to their roots and buy american cars, but since ayame's dad's japanese... you get what im saying (hopefully)

lyrics used are from the song "Shut Up and Dance" by Walk the Moon, who is basically the inspiration for this fanfiction that is quickly spiraling out of my control

thats it for today guys! thanks for reading and please review!


	8. It's Up to You

AN: i managed to update this, and it was kind of refreshing actually. at least, the plot (whatever it is) actually moved in this chapter

**Thao Nhi-** thanks for catching that error. personally, i dont really care if misaki had a boyfriend? i mean, if he's gay, he's gay. maybe he's even bisexual, but eh. i guess he can be straight as a ruler in here. (tbh, if i wasnt such a TsuSan fan, I'd ship Tsubasa and Misaki together), but still thanks for calling that mistake out. and as you'll read here, no they didn't kiss. tee hee, i have big plans for their first kiss. make sure you look forward to it ;). although i was thinking about the hitting him on the forehead part, that would have been hilarious. i love writing napoleon tho. i need someone who's an asshole but isnt that much of a dick. its fun writing someone like him. anyway, thanks for always reading and reviewing 3

**HimeKanata-** every athlete needs to have a sports car, and misaki's not exempt. of course he's going to have a porsche lol. like i dont particularly like saying the specific kind of car tho. mostly because i have no freaking clue about sports car and i feel like misaki probs didnt even want a sports car that much since he's so humble and my baby, but i guess he kind of gave it so i just chose Porsche so you guys can choose whatever kind of car you think he'd have. anyway, this chapter will show him kind of taking that step, albeit tiny ones, but he took a step and thats good. and im glad you enjoyed listening to _Shut Up and Dance_. Walk the Moon is just a great band, you should listen to their other songs. anyway, thanks for reading and reviewing!

yeah i dont own captain tsubasa

* * *

Chapter 8: It's Up to You

He wasn't sure what Ayame wanted to do with him, and he felt his body stiffen when she pulled him close to her. He didn't know what she was going to do, and frankly he didn't think he was ready for whatever she planned on doing.

He almost released a relieved sigh when she only met her cheek with his and laid her chin on his shoulder, laughing with mild intoxication. But he didn't feel like he was being watched anymore.

Right as the new song was beginning, Ayame raised her head from her shoulder and looked at him, a huge grin on her face. They stared at each other for a moment before she giggled to herself and sauntered off the dance floor, his hand firmly grasp in hers. He could only follow behind her as she pulled them out of the crowd.

She let go of his hand once they reached their table, grabbing her glass of champagne close to her lips as she panted softly.

"I can't believe they would play Walk the Moon here," she breathed out before sipping her drink. "Well, _Shut Up and Dance_ is their most popular song right now. But still, that literally surprised me."

He observed her carefully, looking for any signs that she was going to bring up what just happened a few moments ago on the dancefloor.

"But then again they did have a concert here in Paris some time ago," she said. He didn't know who she was talking to at this point because she seemed like to be talking to air. But he didn't care. He just wanted to go back to sit and leave him to mope over Azumi.

"Well, now that you have your dance with me," he trailed off as he started to go back to his seat. "Why don't you please leave me alone and find that guy you're looking for."

She turned to him quickly, her eyebrows furrowed together in annoyance. "Oh hell no, mister. You're not going back here to brood over your ex. You're being like an angsty teenager in a YA novel. If you think you're staying back here, then you are terribly wrong. Besides, your friends are waiting for you back on the floor. Can't disappoint them now, can you?"

He looked at the dance floor just to see Pierre and Napoleon laughing together with their dates. Napoleon even spinning Marie playfully like they were children. He had to smile at the scene. She was right, he shouldn't stay here. He had to move on, because Azumi had. He couldn't stay like this forever.

He glanced at the other side of the dance floor, seeing her dancing along with Marcel with her smile that used to be just for him.

But it was still hard for him, hard for him to move on when she was just right there he could touch her. He could talk to her and fix everything he did wrong.

He wanted her back, but he knew she didn't want him anymore.

"Hey," he felt hands cupped his face and before he knew it, he was facing Ayame. "It's going to be okay. I know it's hard right now, with her being so close yet so far. But you're going to be fine. At least for one night, let go of your sadness. Show to her that it was wrong of her to let you go. So, come on and rock the dance floor."

He turned back to where Azumi was, throwing her head back in laughter as Marcel whispered something to her ear. There was still that feeling of jealousy and longing for her, but he ignored it.

She was right. It's true that maybe he still wasn't ready to let go of his pain, but when will he be ready? When was he going to stop being himself over this?

This was the perfect opportunity to start.

And even if he still wanted to hold on, at least he had one night that he allowed himself to let go.

He grabbed her glass of champagne from their table, barely hearing her cry of surprise. He ignored her and gulped the rest of her drink down before setting the glass back on the table with a thud. Hey, if she did to his drink, then he had every right to do it to hers.

"You drank all of it?" she shrieked in distress.

He rolled his eyes and stood up from his seat. "Well, you drank all of mine. I'm just returning the favor."

"But what am I going to make myself drunk with? I needed that to have amazing drunk sex with a hot guy!" she cried out shamelessly.

He chuckled at her anger and grabbed her arm, pulling her towards the direction of the dance floor. "You picked a pretty weak drink to get yourself drunk too," he pointed out.

"Well I didn't want to be completely wasted," she retorted while they passed through all the other sweaty people in the area, couples who were grinding against each other to the beat of the song. "I still want to remember how it went. See if the guy's worth keeping."

He heard himself laugh. "You're ruthless," he told her, peering at her over his shoulder.

"A girl has to take care of herself somehow," she smiled at him before giggling.

"Fine," he conceded. "I'll get you another drink to get yourself some drunk sex."

"You better."

"But," he said as they stopped by Napoleon and Pierre, who greeted him in surprise. Then he turned back to her, "I'll give it to you later."

She had that aghast look on her face as if he offended her. He chuckled before wrapping his arms around and pulled her close, a mischievous smile on his face. "After all, the night is still young, and so are we."

She stared at him incredulously, before breaking into a fit of giggles. He felt his lips curve into a smile, and both of them started dancing to this new beat.

He wasn't going to let anyone ruin this night, not for him, and especially not for her.

Taro was having so much fun, he could care less about that feeling of being watched.

* * *

He opened her apartment door and turned on her lights while trying to balance her on his shoulder. As much as Ayame said she wasn't going to get drunk, she managed to get herself to that point, all because Napoleon had her try his drink (and by try he meant drinking the quarter of the drink left in his teammate's glass. There was still quite a lot it even though there was a quarter left). He didn't even know what was in there, but it was enough to get her more than tipsy that she so proudly declared she was. Well, she already did drink quite a lot before she even drank all of it.

And as much as she wanted to catch that guy she kept on looking for, he wasn't exactly comfortable letting her go with a random man when she's in this state. Who knows what they'll do to her.

So in the end, he decided that they were going to go home earlier than expected. He guessed that it was a good idea, he was feeling tired anyway from all the dancing they've done.

He tried to balance both of them as they walked through her hallway, but it was kind of hard to that. She was just too short, even though she was wearing those really high heels. She was giggling every time they hit something he was tempted to hit her instead to stop laughing.

They stumbled into her living room and he quickly deposited her to the couch, and she was still giggling nonstop. He sat on the other end of the couch with a relieved sigh, glad that this was over. He was just going to take a few minutes to rest, then he'll be going back to his own home and crash.

"My feet hurt," he heard her whine from beside him. He's kind of hating drunk Ayame right now.

"Then take it off," he sighed while rubbing his temples. He could feel the beginning of a migraine coming.

"But I don't want to move," she whined once more, slurring her speech. "It's too much effort. But my feet hurt."

"Not my problem," he retorted. "You're the one who decided to wear those shoes."

He saw her turn to him from the corner of her eyes, and he warily turned to her. She was wearing a small pout on her lips, and he knew, he knew that she was going to make him do something ridiculous.

"Will you take them off please?" She pleaded with wide eyes.

Was she crazy?

"No!" he exclaimed. "Do it on your own. I'm not your slave."

Immediately her face set into a childish frown, and she stared at him with narrowed eyes. He returned her stare with a light glare, daring her to make another move. Then, she suddenly started to move, changing her position to her hands and knees. She started to crawl towards him on the couch, and he tried to scooch away from her, but unfortunately he forgot he was already at the very end of the seat.

"Please?" she pleaded, pushing her bottom lip further than her upper one. She shoved her face close to his, and he tried to lean as far away as possible. It was official, he hated drunk Ayame.

"No!" he repeated. He looked down on to her, and he couldn't help but notice the red of her cheeks, or pink gloss of her cheeks.

She narrowed her eyes more, her lips in straight line. He didn't know it was that small. He thought it would be bigger, but somehow he couldn't help but think it looked to be the perfect size to ki-

No, stop. Get rid of that thought.

"Pretty please?" she begged once more, pushing her face even closer to his. He could feel her breathe close to him, caressing his lips. He was highly aware of where her hand was placed, on the upper part of his thigh where he did not want it to be.

Damn it, she wasn't going to stop this if he didn't agree. Sure, she would still be like this when she wasn't drunk, but having her like was much more than when she was sober, because she would actually give up once she saw he was uncomfortable.

"Fine!" he conceded with a defeated sigh. "Fine. Just give me a little space okay. You're too close."

Ayame grinned with a giggle. "Yay!" she exclaimed before sitting down and settling her back on the other side of the couch. She threw her feet on his lap, crossing her arms in smug satisfaction.

He glared at her from his side of the couch, which she only replied by that stupid drunken grin.

The things this woman do to him.

He gave another sigh and proceeded to do what she wanted him to do. He couldn't understand why she just wouldn't do it herself. She literally just had to slip it off of her feet and she was done. How could it be so hard?!

He dropped her shoes on the floor, and they landed with a soft thud on her wooden floor. He turned back to her with narrowed eyes.

"There, are you happy now?" he growled. His patience was starting to wear thin, and he never more did he want to finally be at his apartment and sleep.

She only replied, and he sighed for the umpteenth time. He ran a hand through his hair and let her feet fall on the floor gently before standing up.

"Good," he breathed out. "If that's case then I'm going. I'm beat no thanks to you. You should probably head to bed too before you make more awful decisions."

He ignored her giggles and went around the couch, walking to finally leave her apartment.

"Wait!" he felt something tug on his sleeve.

What now?

He turned to her annoyed, "What more do you want?"

She pouted once more and held her arms towards him like a baby.

"Carry me!"

Are you fucking kidding him?

"What the fuck, Ayame? You're really pushing it," he told her while covering his face. He just wanted to sleep. That's all he asked. Just goddamn peace and sleep.

"I don't wanna walk!" she declared childishly. "My rooms too far."

"It's literally a few feet away from you!"

"Too far!" she insisted.

He breathed out, trying to calm himself. Okay, she's drunk. She's not herself. She didn't know what she was doing or saying.

He finally moved back towards the couch, and wasted no time slipping his arm under her knees and carried her.

"I hate you so much right now,"

Her reply? A giggle of course.

He proceeded to go the other hallway in the direction of her room as she continued to laugh like a maniac. With the help of the light coming from her living room, he easily found her bed and went to it directly. He laid her down gently, careful that he didn't her in the process. When her back hit the mattress, she quickly turned away from him to settle further into the bed. Her eyes was already closed, probably asleep already.

He felt his eye twitch.

Releasing a breath, he turned around to walk out of her room, ready to finally get his own rest when someone grabbed his wrist and he suddenly found his back on the mattress.

His eyes suddenly met with familiar chocolate ones. He felt a hand settle on his cheek, caressing it softly with her thumb. Her body was laid on his right side, and he could feel just how lean and curvaceous and warm she was.

Suddenly, he couldn't breathe.

"Have I ever told you that you look really attractive?" he heard her say. She was tracing the side of his face with her fingers, barely touching his face. "That you have pretty eyes, a nice chiseled chin, the perfect nose…"

He didn't what to say. He wasn't- wasn't expecting anything like to happen. In fact, what's exactly going on with her?

"Nice set of shoulders, toned legs, packed abs, and muscles to die for," she listed nonchalantly, drawing circles with her finger near his collar. "So- so beautiful! So bright, especially when you smile that gorgeous smile whenever you get a goal. It's just a waste that you don't smile often enough. All because she left you."

He knew exactly who she was talking about, and normally he would have said something, but he suddenly found his voice stuck in his throat.

"I thought, who in their right mind would leave someone like you, someone's who so amazing, so lively, so devoted, so in love and left you barely hanging and- and broken."

She laid her hand gently on his chest, right above his heart. "You didn't deserve that. You never deserve being treated like that. And when you told me with such a grief-stricken face that you saw her again, happy with another guy that wasn't- that wasn't you."

She softened her voice, and he thought she probably knew how his heart hurt just thinking about it.

"And I looked at you while you longingly stared at her. You looked so hurt, so lost, so much in love that I felt hurt. And I thought, you don't deserve that. You never deserved to be treated like that. How dare she be happy, when I knew that past three years was your life, a life you badly wanted back but couldn't. A life she wasn't willing to go back to."

He wanted her to stop, but he couldn't. He wasn't able to. His throat was dry and he couldn't move a muscle.

"She was looking at you, you know," she informed him, caressing his face once more with her thumb. He was surprised by this information. Was that why he felt like he was being watched?

"She was probably trying to see if you were jealous, to see if you she could rub it in your face more that she was happy while for three months, you were miserable you were unrecognizable out of the field."

No, that's not how Azumi was. Azumi wasn't like that.

"But I wouldn't let her," she said. "I wouldn't, couldn't let her hurt you again because you deserve so much better, Taro. So much better."

He stared at her with wide eyes, surprised by her statement.

"You don't deserve someone who just leaves you like that, leaves you because both of you couldn't find the time to be together. It's not your fault."

No, that wasn't true, everything was his fau-

"Nothing was your fault," she told him softly. Her thumb was caressing his bottom lip, and she looked at him with the gentlest eyes he had ever seen on her.

"So remember that, and smile again," she said, and she started leaning closer to him, closing the gap between the two of them. "I love seeing you smile."

He gulped when she was only a few inches away from her, and closed him eyes tightly.

"And I-"

Suddenly, he felt something fall on his chest, and the sound of soft snores entered his ears.

He gingerly opened his eyes and looked down just to see Ayame sleeping soundly on his chest.

He felt himself release a breath, panting. He ran a hand through his hair as he tried to catch his breath.

What was that? He didn't know what just happened. She just started saying all these things about Azumi, and him, and his smile-

And his heart wouldn't stop beating fast.

He looked down once more towards the girl on his chest, and released another breath.

This woman was going to be the death of him.

He needed to go home and quick.

He tried pushing her off him, but her arm wouldn't let me go. Not to mention their legs were already tangled together, making it harder for him to move her. He tried once more to get her off, but she only whined and clung to him tighter.

Damn it, she wasn't going to make him leave.

But he was so tired, he couldn't find it to move her anymore and before he knew it, he was already asleep.

* * *

He groaned in annoyance as he felt something move in his arms and tightened his hold on whatever was in his arms. Couldn't they stop moving? He still wanted to sleep, he was tired. It shifted once more, and he let a whine escape from his lips. What would it take to keep them from moving, and get that sun away from his eyes!

"Psst!" he heard someone say. "Taro wake up!"

He whined again and burrowed his head on the pillow.

"Taro, wake up. Your arm is heavy," he ignored whoever was calling her.

"Taro, come on, you're crushing me!"

He sighed and finally opened his eyes and turned to face the bane of his existence.

Ayame was laying on her stomach, her chin propped up on her hand while she had an amused smile on her face.

Wait Ayame?

Immediately, he snapped his eyes open, letting his jaw drop in shock. He took his arm off swiftly and sat up quickly.

"Well, good morning to you too, sunshine," she greeted him with a raised eyebrow. "Don't you look happy this morning?"

Oh god, she's back to normal. This was not how he wanted to start his day, and he could feel a headache coming.

"You look like you had a nice sleep," she remarked sarcastically. He gave her a glare, unamused by her.

He sat up while rubbing his eyes and looked around the place. This was… her room? How- oh right, he carried her here because she wanted him too.

"Thanks for bringing me home last night even though I was probably drunk as hell," she told him while getting something from her hair, bobby pins? Right, the rest of her hair that wasn't already down were falling from her bun. "I know I can be a little… annoying when I'm drunk, and a little talkative."

He snorted at her statement as he let himself lean on her bed's head board. A little wouldn't even describe it.

"I know okay, I'm sorry," she huffed as she kneeled, her hair completely unbound. She crossed her arms with a huff. "I know how awful I can be. Apparently, when drunk I get even less filter on my mouth."

Which really meant she didn't think about anything before she spoke, not even the considering the feelings. The things she said yesterday, from her childish demands that irritated him to no end, to her impulsively pulling him down on her bed, and-

And the things she said about- about Azumi and him.

"I meant it though," she told him softly, looking away from him as she combed her hair with her hand. "About what I said about you and her, and I meant it. Every single word."

She said those words with such nonchalance and softness, as if it wasn't a big deal. But how did she know what he was thinking.

"I really do think she doesn't deserve you running back to him," she told him. He watched her as she slowly sat up on her knees, facing him with half lidded eyes. "She doesn't deserve someone like you."

He felt himself inhale when she touched his face her hand, caressing his cheek with her thumb.

"But I guess it's not my business to say anything," she declared before quickly taking her hand away, surprising him. She turned around from him, stretching her arms high up in the air. "It's your decision whether you run back to her or not. It's not my life."

His eyes never left her form, before she suddenly looked back to face him, shrugging her shoulders with little care.

"It's up to you."

He couldn't reply to her statement, couldn't find anything to say to that. He contemplated the meaning of her words, thinking hard about it. Thinking of what she wanted him to do.

He felt the mattress shift and he looked up to see her standing up.

"Now come on, I'm making breakfast. How do you like your eggs?"

* * *

He opened his apartment door and turned on his lights, sighing along the way. For some reason he felt weird going inside his own. He didn't know what's wrong with it, or with him anyway. It was just like the way he left it. Nothing was in the wrong place, or anything new, or anything missing. His stuff was still there, the couch was in place. His TV was off, and his curtains were closed. There wasn't any rotten food anywhere, nor were there any dishes that needed to be washed. It was still the same.

But somehow, it didn't feel like home. It felt gloomy, and lonely, and… empty.

It didn't feel like Ayame's apartment.

He ran a hand through his hair and pushed that anyway from his head. What was he thinking? Of course this wouldn't feel like hers, it's his own apartment. There would be a huge difference between the two. They were two different people with different likes and choices.

He sighed again and went to his room. He needed a shower. A shower would feel really nice after what happened last night. Plus, he stunk of alcohol, and even though he could smell the breakfast that Ayame cooked for them, he could still smell the alcohol stuck on his clothes. Yuck.

He grabbed some underwear from his dresser and proceeded to his bathroom. Once he was out of his suit (which he still couldn't understand how he managed to sleep in those. It was hard to breathe in those and uncomfortable), he jumped right in the shower, didn't even give it time to heat up. Having the spray of cold water turn warm felt nice against his skin after all.

He soaped his whole body and let the water rinse off the grime and dirt from yesterday's activities, even shampooing his hair to get rid of the oil in his hair that Ayame oh so kindly pointed out. Seriously, that girl needed to calm down sometimes.

He turned off the shower, drying his body with a towel before tying around his waist. He brushed his teeth thoroughly, trying to get rid of the smell of alcohol in them. It's unhygienic after all.

Once he was all done, he went out of his bathroom.

He went into his room, rubbing the towel to dry his hair when he bumped into his dresser. He yelped in pain, nursing his shoulder that hit the object. That hurt, and what's worse he wasn't wearing anything to soften the blow. He turned to look at the dresser to glare at it (he knew it was no use. It was an inanimate object. It would feel anything) but something caught his eye.

There was that box. The box that he used to play with idly, sometimes with calm excitement, other times with a feeling of emptiness. It contained one of best things he ever bought after all.

He took the velvet box from the top of his dresser and opened it slowly. He stared at the sparkling diamond ring nestled between the soft pillows inside the box, waiting for the moment that it would make someone the happiest person alive.

But sadly, it wasn't going to happen. Another person already made her happy than he or this ring could ever do.

_It's up to you._

Her words rang inside his mind. He stared back down to diamond ring, a frown growing on his lips.

And somehow, he figured he finally knew what to do.

Before he could think of it, he quickly set the box on his bed. He swiftly put on clothes before grabbing the box once more to put it in the pocket of his pants. He took his keys from where he last set it down and rushed out of his apartment, closing his apartment door with a soft thud.

* * *

He took a deep breath and looked up the sign. He was just here five months ago, deciding on what kind of ring would be perfect for her. He couldn't believe he was back again.

But it was for a totally different reason.

Ayame was right. It was up to him. It was his decision whether to take that step forward and move on, or continue being stuck to the past, being left behind by those who never stopped.

And he noticed, making that decision wasn't as hard as he made it out to be.

So taking another deep breath, he looked straight ahead with his chest out and entered the store.

End Chapter

* * *

AN: he returned the ring by the way. i guess the ring kind of symbolizes that its a chain holding him back to the past, that he couldn't move on as long as he had it. but now he returned it so maybe he can start moving on, idk. also, i hope you like drunk! Ayame. It was such a blast writing her like that. mostly because she was more of a bitch than usual, a childish bitch, but also because she let's us see Misaki being a little angry and annoyed. usually, we see Misaki as that nice boy who doesnt know how to angry but ayame showed us that he could be, that he was just human too. idk, i think it was pretty cool.

anyway, thats it for now. i have some stuff written for the other chapters (while still contemplating for WOS. I can't help it. this is entertaining because i can cross some borders since they are adults already.) and i'll be working on those as well as writing stuff for _WOS_. so look out for those.

thanks for reading and please review!

see you soon!

PS: there's a hidden Nicki Minaj song in here somewhere. kudos to you if you find it. also give it a listen because she's amazing


	9. One Look

AN: lol its been a while hi

**Harukachan-** hey, thanks! im glad youre enjoying my work. and yes, misaki does deserve better in a sense that hes been through many hardships just so he can play soccer, he's gonna be transferred to PSG soon im sure, maybe even after the olympics. it terms of being with azumi, im fine with it in canon anyway. but considering she kind of dropped out of the manga like a fly, we just dont know. anyway, thanks again for reading!

**HimeKanata-** lol, dont worry im going to continue this. im having too much fun writing this. its nice. anyway, yeah... misaki wasnt exactly angry, just annoyed and irritated. ayame was being a baby lol. was she really drunk, or was she just fooling with him, we just dont know ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯. thanks for always reading and yes i will continue this

yeah i dont own captain tsubasa

* * *

Chapter 9: One Look

It's been a few weeks since the party, and so far everything was going great for him. After returning the ring to jewelry shop, he felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off of him, and somehow, it was as if he felt alive again. Slowly, everything began to change. He could feel the heat of summer creeping in, smell the various scents and aromas of Paris, hear the most wonderful things that he used to ignore, see everything with all their colors.

But for some reason, the colors were livelier, more vivid when he was with Ayame.

He was happier.

Ayame noticed the changes that happened to him, and wasted no time asking him what happened to him. He told her of what he did, of what he decided, and he couldn't help but return her excited smile when she hugged him, telling him how proud she was of him.

He woke up feeling tired for some reason that day, didn't know why he felt like it was going to be a long day for him. Wait, yeah he knew. They had a press conference today about the pre-season games coming up, and Coach Roux wanted him to go with him along with Lindström. He didn't know why their coach would choose him of all people, but whatever, he'll go. It's not like Coach Rox would let him refuse anyway.

He didn't really like press conferences that much. Most of the time, the questions from journalists tend to veer towards personal ones, and he hated when it comes to that. Like, they were there to ask them questions about the team, not each and everyone's personal lives. It was a good thing he knew how to control his emotions, or else he'd be dealing with unnecessary problems.

Huh, maybe that's why Coach chose him to go. Considering his teammates, he was actually one of the most level headed in the team, and would most likely attract less trouble.

Damn.

He yawned blearily as he opened his cupboard to get a mug for some coffee. Caffeine will help him face this day, at least he hoped. If not, he'll get himself some smoothie after it because lord knows that sugar was the only thing that would help him calm down after that stressful event.

He didn't use to crave something like that after something like that, but Ayame for the short time they've known each other(four months, if he remembered), managed to influence him in getting those sweet, sugary stuff. At least it wasn't those sugary caffeinated drinks she was obsessed over.

He searched through his other cupboard, looking for some coffee. He should have some. He was sure he bought a pack - what the hell?

Taro stared down at his empty jar, completely devoid of any coffee at all.

Oh no, he forgot to grab some when he went to buy groceries didn't he? Ugh, really did it have to happen today.

He sighed and closed the jar, returning it back to its place. Looks like he had to grab some coffee from her. Again. Well, he wasn't complaining. Her coffee tasted a lot better than what he had anyway. He planned on buying the same kind she uses, but he forgot to grab it.

Putting on some slippers, he set out to her apartment, ignoring the fact that he was still wearing his pajamas. Who cares? She's seen him in his night clothes many times now, it didn't really matter anymore.

He rang her doorbell, and it he was almost got a little concerned that it still didn't open after five seconds. He was sure she was up at this time.

He was about to ring the bell again when it finally opened. She was already in day clothes, jean shorts and a blue tank top underneath a white loose shirt that was slipping off her shoulder. Her hair was up in a ponytail, and for some reason he thought there was something a different about her today.

The two of them stared at each other for a moment, before he finally told her why he was there.

"Hey, I ran out of coffee again, so I'm gonna go and make myself a cup. Thanks." Without even letting her say anything, he went inside her apartment. He was sure she was only going to complain half-heartedly about him taking advantage of her, but in the end she'd let him. For some reason, she could never say no to him.

And he wouldn't admit it, but he liked it. It kind of gave him a step over her.

He headed straight to her kitchen, and proceeded to make a pot of coffee. He already knew where everything was like the back of his hand so it didn't take him long to find what he needed. After all, he's been here so many times it almost seemed like he lived here.

He was just waiting for the coffee to brew when something interesting caught his ear.

_"__What do you mean I have really weird guy in my kitchen?"_ He heard her voice coming from the hallway. Was she talking to someone? On the phone maybe? But it didn't sound like it. _"And you just let him come in?"_

And why was she talking in English?

Was she talking about him? But he thought she said he could come here whenever he wanted? Or well- he forgot to buy coffee last time he did his groceries. In all honestly, he was just grabbing some coffee since she said he could whenever he needed something, and he really needed coffee to face the press conference today.

_"__What do you mean he just let himself in? Ayu, you know how dangerous tha- He seemed like to know me really well?"_

Ayu? Who's Ayu? Wasn't it supposed to be Aya since, you know, her name's Ayame…

_"__He's attractive? That's your argument? Ayu that's not enough reason to let someone in," _he could hear her voice getting closer, and her steps was echoing throughout the room. He took the pot full of coffee from under the coffee machine and poured some of it in the mug, adding some cream and sugar to his liking. He took another mug from her cupboard and poured the rest of coffee in that mug, putting the right amount of cream and sugar that Ayame preferred. He knew that she was almost in the kitchen, so he figured he might as well make her one.

He grabbed his cup and turned around to lean against the counter to wait for her, bringing the cup close to his mouth to cool the liquid down.

"_He needed coffee? Really? You're expecting me to believe that bull- _Oh it's just you," Ayame appeared from the hallway, her face that was in a panicked rage suddenly melted into a relieved one. "I thought that it was somebody else."

"Who else would it be?" he asked as before sipping his drink. The hot liquid went down his throat and he suddenly felt calmer. That was better.

"Ugh, shut up. It's too early for this," she said to him as she rubbed her forehead with her hand. This time, he finally noticed that she was still in pink cotton shorts and a light blue shirt, her sleepwear for the summer. Her hair was up in a messy bun a top of her head, unruly and a sign that she just threw it up like that from being woken up.

Wait, wasn't she just wearing different clothes a while ago as if she was already heading out for the day? Why was she back in pajamas?

He saw her scrunch her nose up, before a wide grin broke out on her face.

"Oh my god, that coffee smells delicious!" she squealed before treading towards him. "I want some," she said.

He chuckled at her actions and immediately grabbed the other cup on the counter.

"I figured you'd want some," he told her as he showed the steaming mug of coffee to her. She squealed once more and grabbed it gingerly with both of her hands.

"You are the best, hotshot. Seriously, I don't even know why anyone would dump you. You're total boyfriend material," she rambled while smelling the aroma of her drink.

He felt himself smile dryly. He knew she didn't mean anything with that statement, but bringing up Azumi leaving him was still a sore subject for him. He still couldn't stop thinking that everything was still all his fault, but he's trying to convince himself that it's not his fault, that life just didn't want them together. And he's getting there. He had too, because he knew that they just weren't meant to be together.

He rolled his eyes and sipped his coffee. "Just drink it," he told her lazily.

Ayame giggled once more and followed his order, the corners of her lips curved into a smile as she sipped her mug. Taro managed to smile softly watching her drink. There was just something with Ayame whenever she does the simple things that never failed to fascinate him. She always did stuff with so much life, he couldn't help but be amused by it.

He was about to drink from his mug once more when something caught his eye.

There seemed to be another person with them?

He stopped from taking a sip to look closer behind the column, and sure enough there was another person, another girl with them. Who was she?

Before he could even call out the girl, she seemed to have noticed him looking at her and immediately left, running to the other hallway towards the rooms.

He knitted his eyebrows in confusion. Well, that was weird.

"What's with that face?" he heard Ayame asked him. He turned his attention back on her.

"I just saw someone hiding behind the column," he answered confusedly. "She left before I could even say anything. Or maybe I'm just hallucinating."

"Nope, you're not," she replied as she put her mug on the kitchen table. "You're not hallucinating. She's real, and she's just awfully shy."

"Who?"

"My twin," she said as she walked away from him. "Just stay there and let me get her. I want you to meet her."

He watched her leave him with a raised eyebrow. She strode out of the kitchen, a bounce in her step while some obscure song he didn't know.

A twin. She didn't even bother telling him she had on- oh wait, yeah she did, back when they just met. Actually, she just told him she had two sisters –not that she had a twin.

Either way, he would have appreciated it if she gave him some kind of notice or something that her sister was coming. It was probably her who opened the door for him, considering that Ayame looked like she just got out bed. No wonder he thought something was off that time. The poor girl was probably traumatized that a random guy just suddenly enters her sister's apartment without even letting her speak.

"_-op! Aya, I don't want to do this. Stop pushing me! Please,_" he heard their voices again as he continued drinking his coffee. Soon he saw the two of them rounding the corner while Ayame pushed her sister, who had a panicked expression on her face.

"_Come on Ayu, I promise you, he's not going to do anything to you,_" Ayame assured her.

Why was she making it sound like he's done something awful to everyone else?

_"__He's nice!_"

They finally stopped in front of him, Ayame standing behind her sister with her hands on her shoulders as her sister looked down, refusing to look at him.

"This is Ayuri," Ayame introduced her to him with an excited smile. "My twin sister."

Ayuri finally looked up to him, and Taro finally confirmed that she was the one who opened the door. She wore the same clothes as he saw a while ago.

"H-hello," she greeted him. He gave her a smile, and greeted him back, offering his free hand. "Nice to meet you. I'm Taro. Taro Misaki."

Ayuri gave him a shy smile and shook his hand gingerly. Ayame them proceeded to rattle stuff about him, which he immediately tuned out. He was more interested in looking at them.

It wasn't hard confusing the two of them. They were so similar in appearance that it wasn't a surprise that they were identical twins. They had the same build, same height, facial structure, you wouldn't really be able to differentiate the two of them if you didn't look close enough. The only "big" difference between them was the color of their eyes. While Ayame had those deep chocolate eyes that never failed to show her emotions, Ayuri had orbs as blue as the sea. You could see how troubled she was and if you continue to look at them, you'd be able to see them calm down.

"She's actually supposed to be named Sayuri*, you know to keep the flower theme like our dad wanted, but I guess our mom was too tired after giving birth to two babies she forgot to add the S," Ayame informed him. He didn't know why he needed to know that, but it was interesting nonetheless.

Ayuri sighed in exasperation and rolled her eyes, "Do you always have to do that every time? I don't even think Misaki-san needed to know that."

"You can call me Taro," he told her. "And it's fine. It was definitely interesting to know."

"See I told you!" Ayame exclaimed in triumph to her twin, who only huffed in annoyance and crossed her arms. He couldn't help but chuckle, even their mannerisms were similar. Ayame tend to do that when she was annoyed.

"Well, I'm gonna leave you to for a bit so I can get ready," Ayame told them. "Ayu and I will be going all over Paris. We'll probably be eating out too, but I'm sure I have some food in the fridge if you want some, Taro. Unless you want to come with us. I'm sure Ayu wouldn't mind."

Ayame turned to her sister, who shook her head in agreement.

That sounded like a better thing to do than this stupid press conference. But…

"I'm good," he said. "I have a press conference about our pre-season at one. Besides, you rarely get to be your family. You should use this time to be with her."

Ayame looked at him in surprise, but it quickly turned into a grateful smile.

"If you say so, super star," she said with a chuckle. "But take note, this will be the last time you'll have a chance to hang with your gal pal for a couple of days. I'm devoting the next days to hanging out with my sis here, since she would be back to her university in Seattle when I'm in New York in August. You wouldn't be able to see me for a while."

"Good," he answered flatly as he laid his empty cup on the table. "It'd be nice to have a break from you."

He heard Ayuri stifle a laugh with her hand, while Ayame gasped in offense. He gave her a teasing smile while he watched her stare at him with her jaw open.

Recovering from her shock, Ayame punched his arm lightly. "You ass. And here I am feeding you for more than two months now."

He chuckled and threw an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding," he said, looking down at her as she pouted at him with her arms crossed. "But really, it's fine. Go hang out with Ayuri. Don't mind me. I'll be fine.

Ayame stared at him inquisitively. "You sure?"

He rolled his eyes, "Yes. Now go change so you guys can go. Take advantage of the day. Paris is huge." He pushed her lightly out of the kitchen and she left the area, laughing gleefully.

He didn't notice the serene smile that formed on his face as he watched her leave them, nor did he notice the knowing look Ayuri gave the two of them.

* * *

The press conference went well in the beginning, the journalists asked typical questions like how they were going to face the season, what were they going to be focusing in pre-season, who did he think they were going to get for the summer transfers, what he thought about who they going to be against, normal stuff, _safe _stuff.

Then everything went to hell after someone asked what his thoughts if ever Marcel was transferred to the team, he didn't really know how that came about in the journalist's mind, but being the rational person that he was, he answered as evenly as possible and pointed out how Marcel would be a good addition to the team. He could see Coach Roux contemplating his words from the corner of his eyes as he spoke, but to be honest he really hoped that he wouldn't get Marcel. He was just beginning to get over Azumi, and if she was still with Marcel, it'd mean they'd have lots of unwanted encounters, and he didn't think he was ready for that. Not yet.

_"__That seemed like thorough analysis,"_ he remembered the journalist telling him as he smiled placidly. There was something wrong with the journalist when he first spoke, and Taro didn't know why he didn't listen to his gut that told him he was bad news. _"But according to some sources, you were rumored to have been dating supermodel Azumi Hayakawa. Can we get a confirmation on these information? And what do you think about her involvement with Marcel? Would this affect team dynamics if Marcel comes to PSG?"_

How in the world did they get that information? He was sure that no one, except for a select few knew about this. He hid it pretty well. Even his manager didn't know about his relationship with Azumi.

He was frozen at his seat, not knowing what to say. He was just so shocked that someone would tell a secret that he kept hidden, something he wanted to keep to himself so he had something to look back to, of the times where he felt the happiest, to be leaked so easily. To make matters worse, all the other journalists seemed to be expecting his answer, as if they already knew what this guy was asking.

Who would do this to him?

_"__I believe that question is out of the line and have no connection to the topic, please stop asking those kinds of inane questions,"_ Coach Roux intervened, and he was grateful that he did that. He actually wanted to jump out his seat to strangle the guy for speaking of it, but he knew any irrational actions would endanger the team. Plus, his manager would kill him for such an atrocious display of behavior.

Though he was still wondering how his relationship with Azumi was leaked to the public, what baffled him even more was what he answered.

_"__Yes, I was in a relationship with Miss Hayakawa,"_ he said as evenly as possible, surprising and everyone in the room. Even he was surprised. _"But, we ended it a few months ago. It is not any of my business who she chooses to date nor will it affect the team if Marcel joins. I will treat him like I do all my teammates, with respect and as a friend."_

The conference ended even though the journalists still had questions, mostly about him.

So now, he sat on his couch, watching the sport news absentmindedly as he mulled over what he said that afternoon. He was still trying to figure out what made him admit everything he kept for the past three years, and he couldn't find an answer.

"You alright?"

He jumped lightly and turned sharply to his side just to see Ayame standing nearby with a paper bag in her hands.

Oh god, he thought it was someone else. But why was she at his apartment? And how?

"I knocked!" she immediately said to him before he could even say anything. "And rang your bell. But you weren't answering. Your door was unlocked too, so I came in. I even called your name more than once, you still weren't answering. I almost thought you weren't home, maybe to get dinner or something, and just forgot to lock your door, but then I found you here staring at your TV."

He stared at her incredulously, then she cleared her throat. "Anyway, you okay?"

He blinked twice, processing what he said before turning back to his TV.

"Yeah," he answered. "Just had a lot on my mind."

"Hungry?" she asked while sitting down beside him and set the bag on his coffee table. "I got you some dinner. Ayu and I ate at _Belle's_ and I was thinking that you haven't eaten yet, so I got you some _steak frites_."

"Thanks," he smiled at her. Right, he hasn't eaten dinner yet. Ever since they started watching movies together, he's always been eating at her apartment. He almost forgot that they wouldn't be doing that for the next couple of days because Ayuri was here.

"How was the conference?" she asked while folding her left leg close to her, hugging her leg.

He groaned and hid his face behind his hand. "Don't remind me. It was awful."

She chuckled and settled her cheek on her knee. "I heard. I was checking my email and next thing I saw was the internet blowing up about your press conference."

He sighed and slumped again the back of the couch. "I don't even what forced me to say that. I thought I was bent on keeping it to myself, but for some reason, something inside me went to hell with it, it seemed liked everyone already knew what was going on, and I just… told them."

He released a deep breath and stared at the TV that was showing highlights of a cycling tournament. He wasn't really listening because his mind was busy replaying what he said that afternoon.

"So," Ayame's voice broke through his thoughts. "How do you feel?"

"I-" he started, but he found that he couldn't continue. How did he feel? What exactly did he think about this? He thought he was angry, and maybe he was because he didn't want anyone to know about this at all, but when he really thought about it, he wasn't actually. Was he disappointed that someone betrayed his trust? Maybe, but it wasn't a big part of it. Did he feel sad? Of course, because he once dreamed that when he was going to make his relationship with Azumi public, it'd be when they were finally engaged.

But now that he contemplated deeply about this, he didn't feel any of those.

"I feel… I feel lighter, like I can breathe better, freer," he confessed calmly. It felt better than returning the ring back to the store.

"Then that's all that matters," she told him softly, pushing some of his hair from his hair. He turned to look at her slowly as she settled her palm on his cheek, there was a serene smile on her face, even though her cheek was still against her knee.

It was the first time he saw her with her hair down, and suddenly he unconsciously took a deep breath.

She then patted his cheek lightly, making

him jump again slightly and blink.

"Now go eat," she said as she stood up from his couch. "I'm sure that conference made you hungry and tired. You should probably head to bed. I'm gonna-" she yawned as she stretched her arms up in the air. "I'm gonna turn in soon too. We've only toured like a quarter of Paris today and I still want to show Ayu more places. We have another busy day tomorrow. So, I'm gonna go. Night hotshot."

She turned around to give him one last smile and a wave, and she was gone before he could say anything.

He stared at the spot she was just standing for a while, before turning away to lean his head back on the couch releasing a breath.

She looked nice with her hair down.

End Chapter

* * *

AN: chapter title is supposed to be really "one look and my heartbeat stops" but i didnt want to put it like that so i just had those two to title the chapter. lyrics came from Walk the Moon's Avalance by the way. Which for the second time, i missed see them perform live. they're in the philippines right now (when i posted this anyway) and i wish i could go so bad but no i have to be stuck here in the US. someday i'll get to see them live.

anyway, for those of you who read _Flying on Little Wings_, you've probably seen Ayuri in there, but she didn't talk. still she is still shy and ayame's sister. whatever universe i put them in, ayame will always have a twin sister lol. also, hoped you like the press conference scene. its another step for misaki to let go of azumi. it seems like keeping the relationship to himself was a lot unhealthier than he thought. maybe it was time to let everyone know what happened between them so he could have a peace of mind

*Sayuri means "little lily". while Yuri is just "lily", i liked Sayuri better. that and then i could make that stupid story about their mom forgetting to add the S from fatigue of giving birth to twins.

thanks for reading and i'll try and update soon

cya


	10. Let's Go to Barcelona! (Part 1)

AN: im alive i havent abandoned anything yet. im still writing and kicking

**HimeKanata-** lol, ayu's my gal. i love her, but not as much as aya. anyway, im glad you liked (right?) the prescon scene. it was kind of hard writing it, but you're right. azumi's probably regretting ever leaving Misaki. That's what you get for not even taking the chance of talking to each other about this. now she can only watch as Misaki be the happiest person on earth and she's the not the who did it. remember kids, communication is key when youre in a relationship. lol. but yeah. Misaki's gon be gud. and i'd like to write about other characters. i just gotta finish this and WOS first.

yeah i dont own captain tsubasa

* * *

Chapter 10: Let's Go to Barcelona! (Part 1)

_"__Hey, since you're free, why don't you come and visit? Barcelona's great this time of the year and I'm sure you'd want some time to relax before pre-season starts. Besides, I think it'll do well for Sanae if we had someone over. So come visit. We'll see you next week!"_

Well, that was the message Tsubasa left on his phone. It didn't even sound like he was giving him a choice. He didn't really want to go, and he was sure that Tsubasa wouldn't mind if he didn't come. But he brought Anego up, which means that _she_ was the one who decided he was going, and it meant he didn't really have any choice at all. He was going whether he liked it or not. What could he do, this was Anego they were talking about. Once she set her mind into something, there was no changing her mind about it.

Just like Azumi…

He sighed and closed his eyes. Why was he still thinking about her? It's been months since they broke up. She already moved on. He should start as well. It's stupid to hold onto this.

"You look like you want to strangle someone," he was interrupted from his train of thought by Ayame, who finally arrived from her apartment to get something she forgot. Napoleon and Marie invited them to each lunch out and they both agreed, might as well do something to pass time. Plus, the reason why Napoleon even brought this up was because he wanted to know the deal with him and Azumi. He's been bugging him and he wouldn't stop texting his phone. He tried to ignore it but Napoleon sent him 57 out of the 64 messages he for the past three days. He finally gave in and told him he would tell him what happened with him and Azumi someday.

Today was the day apparently.

"Just annoyed," he said as he pressed the elevator button. "I've been thinking about some stuff."

They got into the elevator and Ayame immediately pressed the button for the basement.

"Not looking forward to seeing Napoleon?" she asked curiously. He did tell her why they were meeting them for lunch. Actually, she didn't think this conversation was meant over lunch. She thought more along the lines of midnight pizzas and cans of beer. He only threw a pillow to her face. "We don't have to go."

"It's not that," he replied while they got out to head to his car. "I was just thinking about some other stuff and it made me a little irritated."

"Hm…" she hummed while getting into his car. "Well, I guess maybe you're just a little bit stressed. You should go somewhere before you start the pre-season games."

"Funny you thought that," he remarked as he started his car once he had his seatbelt on, "My friend wants me to go to Barcelona next week. Visit him and his wife." He backed his car out of the parking spot and headed for the exit.

"Really?" she exclaimed, putting on her sunglasses to block out the sun. "My cousin's demanding me to come visit her at Barcelona next week too. Like, she didn't even give me a choice. She told me: 'You're going to Barcelona next week. Pack for a week.'"

That sounded familiar.

"My friend didn't give me a choice either," he said while stopped at a stoplight. "I'll be going whether I want to or not."

She suddenly chuckled while browsing through her phone. "We should probably go on the same day. This way we could sit beside each other. I don't like sitting with strangers. It makes me a little nervous."

"Why not," he shrugged as he stopped at a red light. "This way people don't stare at me a lot."

"So it's decided then?" she asked just as the light turned green.

"Sure."

* * *

The talk with Napoleon went better than expected to be honest. He thought that he would throw a huge scene over it, but surprisingly he was calm throughout Taro's retelling of his history Azumi. It surprised him even more when he was actually sympathetic to him when Napoleon heard how they broke up.

_"__That just means that she wasn't strong enough to handle being with a soccer player,"_ Napoleon told him. Apparently, he'd broken up with girls like those before. It's quite common, he said, that girls break up with guys like them when they feel like they're being neglected. He was surprised he and Azumi even lasted that long.

_"__Don't worry about it,"_ he said, looking at the fountain near the place they chose to eat, _"There's more girls out there. If they couldn't take it, then it's their lost. You'll find someone better than them someday."_

Taro realized he wasn't actually looking at the fountain, but at Marie who was browsing through one of the shops at the plaza with Ayame.

Somehow, he thought that maybe Napoleon finally found that better person for him, he just hasn't realized it yet.

"What time should we leave?" Ayame's voice interrupted his thoughts. She was looking online for available flights for them to go to Barcelona. She said she wanted them to book it right now before they run out of seats or it suddenly becomes too expensive. For someone rich, she sure is a cheapskate.

So now, they're on her couch, looking through flights. Well, she was. He was more interested on the movie (a surprise right? He didn't think he'd actually like watching a movie. But then again, she had Transformers on for some reason. At least it was better than watching another animated movie. Thank god they were done with all the princess movies) on her TV than look through flights with her. They both were in their pajamas, and they both had their feet up on her coffee table. She was sitting closely to him, reasoning that he needed to see her laptop closely so he knew what was going on.

"Their earliest flight is at 7:25 in the morning. Can we not do that though? I don't want to wake up that early." They needed to be there earlier than that, and he didn't exactly want to wake up at five in the morning either.

"How about the next one?" he asked as he looked over her shoulder to her Macbook. "What time is it at?"

"10:05," she answered as she clicked on it. He set his chin on her shoulder, reading through the flight details.

"Still a lot of seats left, that's good," she mumbled. "And I guess it's not that early. Want to take this one?"

"Sure."

"Alrighty then," she exclaimed excitedly. "We're going to Barcelona in five days."

She started booking their tickets, and after a few minutes she was done. She closed her Macbook and set it down on the table before stretched her arms up. He turned back to the TV, grabbing the remote from the table to change the channel. Transformer didn't have that appeal to him anymore. Maybe the sports channel finally have something worth watching…

"You know I find it really weird that your friend and my cousin both want us to be in Barcelona next week," she remarked after putting her hands back down. "Like, they seem to be on the same wavelength or something."

"Who knows," he said absentmindedly as he leaned into her couch. "The world works in mysterious ways."

She chuckled and leaned into her couch as well, her eyes on the TV as they watch sport news. "Looks like we're not going to be seeing each other for a while again."

He hummed softly. True, they didn't get to see each other for a while since Ayuri was here, and he got busy doing workouts for their pre-season games. This was actually the second night that they actually hung out again. He kind of missed it actually.

So he did feel a little bit of same disappointment she felt.

"At least we sit beside each other on the plane," he said, trying to lighten the mood. "You can still annoy me until then."

She laughed and threw a pillow at his face, which he caught deftly. "Whatever hotshot. Admit, you actually miss me."

A little bit. "Nope. Not at all."

She gasped in offense and suddenly kneeled on the couch, her hands on her lips. "You meanie butt!" she exclaimed. "And here I was missing our late night movie shenanigans."

"Maybe you missed it, but I didn't," he was looking at her from the corner of his eyes, biting his lip to keep from smiling. It was always fun to tease her.

She gasped once more and took another pillow, hitting him lightly continuously. "Oh really huh?" she demanded as she hit him with the pillow. "You jerk! And here I was sharing food with you!"

"Hey!" he laughed while trying to stop her. "Stop!"

"No! That's what you get for being ungrateful to me. You butthead!"

Why was she using childish insults? But… it was kind of cute to hear it from her.

She finally threw it directly at his face, making her stop her name calling as she stared at him nervously.

He narrowed her eyes at him menacingly, and he saw her gulp in fright. He took the pillow that fell on the floor gingerly and stared at it for a long time. He turned back to her slowly. Within a second, he threw the pillow at her but she managed to dodge it just in time when she jumped behind the couch, squealing as she ran out of her living room.

"Come back here!" he called out as he followed her.

"Never!" she screamed back with a happy giggle. "Catch me if you can!"

Oh she wanted to play, then play he will.

Hopefully the people renting the unit under her doesn't file a complaint in tomorrow morning.

* * *

"Why do you have so many bags anyway?"

He asked once they got everything from the baggage claim area. They were headed towards the waiting area for the people picking them up. They'd made an agreement that they'd wait together as long as they could. This way, Ayame didn't feel a sense of crippling anxiety and so that not a lot of people will recognize him as one of PSG's player. "Clothes, three pairs of shoes, a hair curler, a hair straightener, my bigger make up kit, some toiletries…" she listed out. "Those are just some things in the suitcase. The duffel bag has some of my other clothes and another pair of shoes I think."

"You're only staying here for a week!" he pointed out to her incredulously. "You look like you brought a whole wardrobe for a month."

She arrived to where he was with her arms crossed and he took this time to see what she was wearing. She was wearing a white button up blouse tucked into her skinny jeans while her hair was up in an intricate bun with some loose strands framing her face. On her feet were a pair of peach ballet flats that complimented the whole ensemble. Her eyes were covered with white rimmed sunglasses that match her top. Huh, what a surprise. It was pretty simple, but it was still fashionable.

"Well, I can't just pick whatever to wear," she huffed. "That goes against every fashion rule ever made."

He didn't think those rules exists but whatever. He was about to speak again, when suddenly both of their phones rang. That's weird. Both of them immediately answered their calls.

It didn't even surprise him that it was Tsubasa.

_"__Sanae and I are close,"_ Tsubasa informed him from the other line. _"You might want to get out of there quickly. We don't want to get a spot at the parking. It's too far if we did that, so we're just gonna pick you up. Look for a silver Audi when you get outside."_

"Sure thing," he replied while grabbing the handle of his suitcase. "Whatever makes it easier for you."

He barely noticed Ayame gathering her things as well, her phone placed between her shoulder and her ear as she continued to talk to the person on the other line.

_"__Great! We'll see you in a few!"_ Tsubasa exclaimed before his line suddenly ended. Looks like they'll be meeting soon.

"You too huh?" he heard Ayame say as she also had her bags ready with her. "This is getting too weird for my taste."

She was right. The first few times, he just shrugged it off. It was probably just coincidence that Tsubasa and her cousin wanted them to go to Barcelona this week without giving them a choice if they wanted to go or not. Like she said, maybe they were just thinking the same thing.

But getting a phone call from who would pick them up at the same time, then saying that they were coming right as they ended their calls, this didn't seem like a coincidence at all.

They both got out of the airport to wait for whoever was picking them up. They stood beside each other, doing some small talk as they searched for the car they were going to be picked. Suddenly, they finally spotted a silver Audi in the driveway.

"There it is!" they both cried out at the same time. They looked at each other in surprise, trying to contemplate what they both just said.

"Was it the silver Audi?" Ayame asked him warily.

"Yeah…" he answered with the same tone.

They stared at each other for a long time, a pregnant silence between the two of them before Ayame finally snorted and hid her face with her palm. Before he knew it, he was also trying to stop grinning.

This has to be the weirdest thing to happen to him.

"I can't believe this," she chuckled dryly. "Why didn't I think of this before? My cousin's married to Tsubasa Oozora, of course you're friends with him. He's the one playing in Barcelona after all."

"Anego's your cousin?" he asked in disbelief.

She took her hand away from her face and grabbed the handle of her suitcase. The car was getting closer to them after all. "Yup," she answered.

"But I didn't see you…" at the wedding. He remembered that most of Anego's relatives being there and he never saw her there.

"Oh trust me I wanted to be there," she said. "But they got married when I was in U of M*! Ayu was still in Seattle, and Shizuka was in MIT*. We were all busy with college, we didn't have time to come. I wanted to make Sanae's dress too! Instead Mom did it. She and Dad were the only one's available for the wedding."

She was pouting really hard, and he found it a little endearing to be honest.

"Hey, if you want, you can make your own wedding dress," he tried to console her. She only replied by finally giving him a grateful smile.

Suddenly they heard a car door being closed and they looked up just to see Sanae-chan get out of their car. Anego had her phone next to her ear, a worried expression on her face.

Ayame gave him a wink before turning back to face her cousin.

"Sanae!" she called out to her. Tsubasa and Sanae-chan turned to them, and immediately her face brightened up.

"Aya! Taro-kun!" she exclaimed, before opening her bag and shoving her phone in bag, before looking up to them again in shock. "Wait, what?"

Ayame and Taro gave her a smile, even waving at her calmly. Sanae could only stand there frozen and stare at them with her jaw dropped.

Tsubasa finally got out of their car and joined his wife, looking at her worriedly. "You okay?" he asked her. Sanae could only point her finger at them. Tsubasa followed her finger and immediately smiled before turning back to her. "Oh great you found them!"

Then, he knitted his eyebrows in confusion and looked back at them. "Taro? Ayame-chan?"

"What up?"

"Hello, Tsubasa-kun."

"You guys know each other?" Sanae finally snapped out of her shock.

"Yup," Ayame drawled as Sanae and Tsubasa walked towards them. "We've known each other for a while now."

"What a coincidence!" Tsubasa exclaimed. "We didn't expect this at all."

"Well, we didn't expect this either," Taro shrugged. Ayame only bit her lip from smiling as their friends tried to process what they just found out as they exchanged pleasantries.

"This is incredible," Sanae exclaimed while giving them hugs, Tsubasa following soon after. "I didn't know you guys knew each other."

"I didn't think Ayame was you cousin, either," Taro remarked while they hauled his and Ayame's luggage to the back of the car. "I haven't even seen her in Nankatsu. Most of your relatives visit you guys in town, but Tsubasa seemed to know her."

"I've been to Nankatsu," Ayame huffed, "and for the record I haven't seen you there either when I was there."

"That's because you were there when he wasn't," Sanae-chan explained. They all decided to get on the car and continue talking inside so they can give the space to a different person, Sanae-chan telling Taro to get in the front with Tsubasa as she joined Ayame in the back. "You came to visit me when he was in Paris with his Dad. Tsubasa and the other guys were the only people you met."

"Damn it, I could have met you earlier hot shot!" Ayame exclaimed once she was buckled up. "You should have been there when I was!"

"Thank god, I wasn't. I don't think I could have handled someone like you at that age," he muttered with a relieved sigh, but it was loud enough for enough to hear. He heard Tsubasa snort while Anego tried to stop herself from laughing as Taro sported a teasing smile on his face. "You're too much for a 15 year old to handle."

"You take that back," she whined as she got up of her seat to smack him on the arm. "Ugh, you're such a poop head!"

"What? It's true! May I remind you what you did to me after the End of the League party? Be happy I helped you," he told her as he turned to look at, that smile still on his face.

As Ayame continued to make his statements back, they didn't notice the look Tsubasa shared with Sanae from the rearview mirror.

"So how exactly do you guys know each other?" Tsubasa asked as he looked out of the window, looking for a chance to merge into the lane to get out of the traffic.

"We're neighbors!" Ayame exclaimed cheerfully once Tsubasa was on the road.

"Unfortunately," Taro said under his breath, to which they all still heard.

"Stop," Ayame told him with another smack. "Or else I'm going to stop feeding you."

"Alright, alright, I'll stop."

"Good."

Again, Tsubasa and Sanae shared looks.

"Neighbors?" Sanae repeated.

"We live right across from each other," Taro explained calmly. Ayame hummed in agreement as she browsed something on her phone.

"That's great," Tsubasa chuckled amusingly as they drove into the freeway, getting closer to Barcelona. "And how long have you guys known each other?"

"We met in March right?" Ayame asked Taro, who answered her question with a nod and a hum. "So about four months?"

"Really?" Sanae asked skeptically. They seemed to act like they've known each other longer than that.

"Yup," Ayame said as she took a selfie with her phone. "Sanae quick, get in here!" she told her cousin, who moved beside her and the men in front of them heard the click of Ayame's phone. "This is definitely going to be on Instagram*."

"Don't forget to send it to me!" Sanae exclaimed.

Tsubasa and Taro shared a look before shaking their heads. Girls.

"What are the two of you guys shaking your heads for? You're going to be doing it with soon too, you know."

As Taro shook his head again as he looked out of the window, he couldn't help but think that this trip might not actually be so bad.

* * *

"Wow, you guys have an awesome place!" Ayame exclaimed as they came into the apartment that Sanae and Tsubasa lived in. "It's so cozy!"

"Sanae did everything to make it like that," Tsubasa informed her as he wheeled in her suitcase. Ayame at first wanted to do it by herself, but Tsubasa always the gentleman, didn't let her do it.

"Great job Anego," Taro complimented her as he looked around the apartment. "I figured it was you who did all the decorating. If Tsubasa did this, your home will only be peppered with soccer related items."

"Hey!"

Ayame sniggered from living room as Sanae-chan laughed merrily, much to her wife's chagrin.

"I made sure that our home was as normal as possible," Sanae winked at him, earning a chuckle from Taro as Tsubasa grumbled under his breath as he pulled Ayame's suitcase with him to one of the rooms.

"Anyway, bathroom's right here," Sanae pointed to the door right beside the room Tsubasa just went into. "Yes, it's beside your room Aya. I know you'd need. Just keep in mind you're not the only one who's using it."

"Will do," she remarked as she went into the room where Tsubasa put her suitcase.

"Also Taro-kun, your room's right here," Sanae led her to the room right across from Ayame and immediately Taro found it ironic that they're going to be across each other again. "You can put your stuff in here."

He nodded and went inside the room, thanking Anego along the way. He set his suitcase just near the door and walked, looking around the room. It was really nice, not too big or too small, and they definitely decorated it for guests. He liked it.

"Once you guys are ready –actually, once Aya's ready. She's probably retouching her makeup, we'll go out and have some lunch. I'm sure you guys are hungry."

True, it has been a while since he last ate, and food sounded nice right now. Hopefully, Ayame didn't take too long, but knowing her, it's probably going to take another 15 minutes.

He got out of the room and joined Tsubasa in the kitchen, eating some grapes from a bowl while leaning on the kitchen island.

"Want some?" His friend offered. He quickly nodded and grabbed some, popping a few of them in his mouth. Maybe eat a little before they have lunch

"How was the league this season?" Tsubasa asked while snacking on a grape. "You guys won from what I heard."

"We did," he replied as he let the sweetness of the fruit invade his mouth. "It was a close call against Marseille though. And with Pierre in Bordeaux, they weren't exactly easy to beat."

"At least you guys beat them," Tsubasa sighed dejectedly. "Natureza and Real Madrid was really tough this year the closest we could get to them is a draw while losing at Santiago Bernabéu. We ended up losing La Liga to them by a point."

He patted his friend to try and comfort him. "Barcelona will win next year, I'm sure."

"Oh we won't, I'm telling you," Tsubasa growled and he raised an eyebrow at his friend. "We're going to be the fucking champions." He then proceeded to put a grape in his mouth, munching on it while glaring at nothing.

Man, who would ever thought Tsubasa could hold such a grudge.

"Is he ranting about their lost again?" They heard Sanae-chan's voice join their conversation. They turned towards the entrance just in time to see Anego roll her eyes and strutted towards where Tsubasa was. Tsubasa, for his part only pouted and grabbed another grape from the bowl. Sanae-chan immediately stole it from her husband's hand, popping it into her mouth as she leaned onto the counter.

Taro had to stop his snickers when he saw his friend's offended look that was directed at his wife.

"I still don't see why he's still so obsessed over it," Sanae-chan complained as she chewed on her grape, completely ignoring the light glare Tsubasa was giving her. "I mean it's already been months since the season ended, and the new season is just right around the corner. It's not like it's the end of the world."

Tsubasa pouted once more, but gave up on making her notice him and only went back to eating their healthy snack dejectedly.

"Well, we're soccer players Anego. Winning is what we ultimately have to do," Taro tried to reason with her.

"I know, but losing is kind part of the package," she argued softly. "You win some, you lose some."

"We can't always lose…" Taro chuckled nervously. "We'd be out of a job by then."

She rolled her eyes once more. "I didn't say you guys have to lose every time. Sometimes, you just have to learn from your losses. Tsubasa needed to learn how to lose sometimes."

"You know, you're really getting on my nerves," Tsubasa told her quietly with a pout.

Sanae-chan giggled and laid her head on his shoulder. "Aww, don't be like that captain. You know I what I meant."

Tsubasa only produced a discreet smile as he tried to get away from his wife, but Taro knew he was only joking because he wouldn't exactly push Anego away. He was too in love with her, they were too in love with each other.

"I just want you to grow, learn from your mistakes," she explained, kissing his cheek. "Because I know you'll only use those experiences to make you the best player the world has ever seen."

Tsubasa finally released a defeated sigh and wrapped an arm around Sanae-chan's waist. "You really are the best wife a man could ever ask for," he said to her as he gazed lovingly into her eyes. Sanae-chan only giggled as Tsubasa leaned down to plant an affectionate kiss on her lips. Taro could only look away with a smile as he continued to eat the grapes on the counter.

"Really guys, really? You have visitors for heaven's sake. Have some decency, will you? Save it for later when Taro and I are gone," The couple separated themselves and all three of them turned towards the kitchen entrance just to see Ayame with her arms crossed, an unimpressed look on her face.

Anego stuck her tongue out at her cousin childishly. "You're just jealous you don't get to do this things." She then proceeded to circle Tsubasa's waist with her arms, pulling him tight to her as Tsubasa chuckled at her antics.

Ayame scoffed and headed to stand beside Taro, grabbing some of the grapes to eat.

"If you mean being such sickeningly lovesick idiots, then no thank you," she remarked before popping a grape into her mouth. "I'm fine being normal."

Taro wouldn't exactly describe her as normal.

"That's what they all say," Anego sang with a teasing smile, wrapping her arms around Tsubasa. "Once you find that the right person, you'll be one of those 'lovesick idiots' you mock."

Ayame only shrugged nonchalantly and bit into a grape, a distant look on her face.

Somehow, it bothered Taro more than he realized.

End Part 1

* * *

AN: being a high school senior is awesome but it also sucks ass. like, i've been so busy for the past months because i'm hustling to get all my college applications done, and i have a ton of after school activities, and then homework, then other family stuff, and i just cant find the time to write! so i guess im sorry for not updating for awhile. life is stressful. anyway, rant over.

i guess its not even a surprise that Tsubasa and Sanae to appear. i mean their my babies, and i love them, and i kind of maybe changed their personalities somehow, but i hope their still pretty in character. i tried to make them as close to canon as possible and tried not to make WOS! Tsubasa and WOS! Sanae to appear. its hard. but yeah, Tsubasa and Sanae are already married, like canon, but no they dont any children yet. They're only 22, and having children early makes me uncomfortable. anyway, there's a reason why they invited Ayame and Taro to Barcelona, and i hope its pretty obvious. i thought it was. but if you guys dont know what it is, then stayed tuned for part 2, which hopefully will be posted soon. no promises tho.

*U of M- University of Michigan. a pretty great university here in america. they have a pretty great business and medical program, but all the other programs are great too.

*MIT- Massachusetts Institute of Technology. the best university here that deals with science and technology. if your from MIT, you bet your ass you gotta be smart, genius even. And Shizuka (the oldest sister) is definitely a genius.

*Instagram- that one app where you just post pictures and comment. lol, it just fit Ayame to have one and she probably has like 231 posts, maybe more if Taro would let her publish their selfies she took of the two of them. but he wouldn't so she doesn't because she actually respects people wishes. she does complain about it tho. lol

so yeah. that's it for one. i'm alive, and im stressed, and im still writing.

thanks for reading and please review

cya


	11. Let's Go to Barcelona! (Part 2)

AN: posting this took longer than expected. anyway, there is a chance that this will turn M later on. im not saying it'll turn over night, but maybe someday in the future. i dont know yet

yeah i dont own captain tsubasa

* * *

Chapter 11: Let's Go to Barcelona! (Part 2)

Even though Paris did have its fine sights to offer, and have as much historical places as it does, there was still something magical with Barcelona. Every time he came to the Catalonian city, it never failed to amaze him with all the gorgeous sights he saw.

One would think at this point, the magic of the city would be lost to him, since after all, he'd played in Camp Nou many times now for the Champions League. But seeing the sights once more; it always never failed to take his breath away.

Probably even more so for someone who hadn't seen it before.

He took a quick glance at Ayame, who was taking a picture of the National Art Museum of Catalonia with her phone. There was that one spark in her eyes, a smile lit up her face, showing just how much she was enjoying the city.

To be honest, he didn't peg her to be one of those people who appreciate all the historical sights cities like Barcelona had. He wasn't even going to deny it, but he thought she'd go straight to _Passeig de Gràcia _or to _Portal de l'Angel_ and directly go shopping.

But she didn't do that. Instead, she had a list of places she wanted to go to, and the very first ones were places known for their architecture.

"_I was thinking about taking architecture actually,_" he remembered her telling him when he was teasing her about how he didn't expect her to be that interested in buildings. "_If I didn't love designing clothes so much, I would have studied architecture at U of M like my parents expected me, but I'd rather make clothes that make buildings. Besides, if I didn't do fashion designing, I wouldn't be in Paris and I wouldn't have met you._"

She gave him a smile that for some reason made his heart skip a beat.

"Something wrong with my face?" He blinked out of his reverie to see Ayame looking at him with knitted eyebrows. Then a look of horror crossed her face. "Oh god, please don't tell me that my makeup is running."

"No, no, no," he denied quickly. He didn't realize he was staring at her for that long. Gosh, hopefully she didn't notice it. "It's fine. You look fine."

She gave him a wary look, and he nodded back to show that he was sure.

"Okay hotshot," she sang while looking away from him. "If I find out that you're pulling a prank on me, I will seriously make your life a living hell." She then started down the stairs to meet with Tsubasa and Sanae-chan.

He only chuckled and followed her. He never knew why she cared about her makeup so much. He's seen her without them before, and she looked pretty under all the makeup she put. When he told it to her, she only snorted sarcastically and told him he wouldn't understand.

Maybe that was it, who was he to say anything about it anyway. He didn't know jack shit about makeup.

"So what's next?" Ayame asked excitedly once he arrived to where they were. She grabbed a churro from the cup Anego was holding. "Oh gosh, the churro I ate in California one time is nothing compared to this," she exclaimed while chewing, hiding her mouth behind her hand.

"Of course it would be different," Anego replied as she fed Tsubasa one from her hand. "This is authentic Spanish churros. It's supposed to taste better."

Ayame turned to him, offering the churro to him with a gleeful expression. "Here, hotshot. You gotta try this! It is delicious."

Taro chuckled once more. "Everything's delicious to you," he teased before taking a hold of her hand that was holding and took a bite from it. Their two companions raised both of their eyebrows in mild surprise before turning to look at each other. That… seemed like a little too intimate for people who were only friends.

Taro and Ayame for their part, didn't seem to notice the looks the husband and wife shared with each other.

"Huh," Taro remarked as he continued to chew. "It's pretty good."

"Isn't it?!" Ayame cried out. "Gosh, I could eat this forever." She took another bite from the churro she was holding, her eyes sparkling like a child as she softly squealed with glee.

"We can eat more of them later," Sanae-chan told her as she let Taro take the last piece. "I only got them since Tsubasa was complaining he was hungry, and he still is. I'll telling you guys, my husband has a black hole for a stomach-"

"Hey!" Tsubasa cried out in offense as he gulped down what he was chewing. Sanae-chan only rolled her eyes teasingly and ignored him.

"But anyway, after we go _Plaça de Catalunya _and then we can go to either _La Rambla, Passeig de Gràcia, or Portal de l'Angel _if you feel like eating somewhere fancy."

Ayame raised her hand. "Um… I want to pig out on Spanish food," she admitted with no shame, to the amusement of all of them.

"Why am I not surprised," Sanae-chan shook her head with a smile on her face. "_La Rambla_ it is then."

"Hell yeah!" Ayame cheered. "Spanish food here I come. Let's get moving guys. I want to see as much as possible, and eat as much as I can."

She started to walk away from them, and the three of them could only give each other amused looks. They were sure that life will never boring with her around.

He chuckled and went to walk beside her, throwing an arm around her shoulder. Ayame giggled from his actions, and wrapped her arm around his waist. "It's good that you're pretty excited to see Spanish culture, but you might want to cut back on the food a little bit."

She moved to look at him with an offended look on her face.

"Are you calling me fat?!"

He only answered by pulling her closer to him as they crossed the street.

Again, they never did see the shared smiles Sanae and Tsubasa gave each other.

* * *

It's been a three days since they arrived in Barcelona, and to tell those three days were jam packed was an understatement. Anego and Tsubasa weren't kidding when they said they were going to bring them everywhere. As expected, Ayame was ecstatic throughout the whole of it. And she didn't even shopped that much. Yes, she stopped at some stalls to them out, but mostly she gravitated towards the sights and paid no attention to the clothes that were everywhere. He was sure they were the kind she would wear too.

"_Oh don't worry, hotshot,_" she waved him off. "_Sanae promised to take me shopping after sight-seeing. Besides, you don't wanna shop with me. Trust me. If I start shopping now, we wouldn't be able to go sight-seeing at all._"

Which when he thought about it, was probably true. Yeah, she shouldn't have gone shopping right away.

Speaking of shopping, the two cousins decided it was day one for operation shopping for Ayame. They took the Audi with them as they went to shops around Barcelona for Ayame to buy from. He didn't get why they needed to bring a car (and he didn't get why the Audi in particular, but the husband and wife explained that it really was to be Sanae-chan's car while Tsubasa drove his Ferrari mostly. He just drives the Audi for special occasions. Then he whispered, it was actually because he felt safer when he's the one driving), until Anego kindly pointed out that their arms wouldn't be enough with the stuff Ayame was going to buy.

It made sense to be honest.

As the girls decided to spend the whole day shopping, Tsubasa planned for the two of them to visit _Ciutat Esportiva_, show him around the center, and maybe even let him join training. Some of the first team that didn't leave Barcelona could come in and train. Tsubasa already asked Coach Van Saal if he could come to training with Taro one of these days, and his coach apparently agreed to it. He wasn't exactly sure about it at first, he was from PSG after all, but Tsubasa assured him that they were fine with it.

That was a fun experience. Barcelona's players were really nice actually. When he arrived with Tsubasa, everyone was surprised that a person from another team came in, thinking that he was a new signing, which would be weird since last time they heard, PSG wasn't willing to let go of Taro Misaki. But since he was visiting at _Ciutat Esportiva_, they immediately started joking about how it would make him move to the team now. They could always use another great player on the team.

He had to refuse though. Taro liked playing for PSG, and he wanted to play until his contract expires in three more years.

After their expedition with Tsubasa's team, which took quite a few hours too. Time did fly when you're having fun. He and Tsubasa grabbed dinner at one his favorite restaurants. Since the girls told them they would be eating out, they both decided to eat out as well. Tsubasa said that this was where he grabbed something to eat with the guys in team sometimes when they just wanted to get together. That and they didn't have wives to watch what they eat. It was a burger joint after all, you can't eat healthy is a place like that (even if Ayame would tell him that it was definitely healthier than the ones in America). Once they were done eating, Tsubasa drove them back home.

Taro was a little bit concerned to see that the two girls were still gone when they arrived, but Tsubasa didn't seem fazed by it.

"Don't worry about them," Tsubasa told his as he handed him a can of beer before taking a seat beside him on the bench of their balcony. "It's still a little early, and I trust Sanae to know when to come home and how to handle Ayame-chan. Besides, they're probably taking this time to catch up on stuff. It has been years since they last saw each other."

True, but he still couldn't help worrying about them, especially for Ayame. He knew she could take care of herself, but still…

"Anyway, we should use this time to talk as well," Tsubasa said before taking a sip from his own can of beer. "We haven't gotten a chance to you know, talk. Like we used to do."

Taro could only smile wryly just as he drank from his own beer. It has been quite some time since they had a man to man talk, or whatever you want to call it. They've always had conversations, even from when they first met, that they actually talk about important stuff, deep stuff. He might not look like it, but Tsubasa was actually a pretty thoughtful person. He's taught Taro a lot of insightful stuff ever since they were young. And Taro had done the same for him.

They were, _are_, best friends.

"So how are you?" Tsubasa asked him. Taro looked at him with knitted eyebrows. What kind of question was that? He should know how he's been. They've been staying under the same roof for three days now.

"I'm great?" he answered skeptically. "I think you should know that though."

Tsubasa, who was in the middle of drinking his beer, stopped and lowered it to give a blank stare. Taro only shrugged before sipping his own.

"That's not what I meant," he said before punching Taro lightly on the arm, both of them chuckling softly.

"I meant how are _you_ really," he explained finally taking that drink. "You know, with everything going on, we haven't exactly talked about you and… Azumi."

Oh.

That wasn't what he expected. The married couple were one of the first people he told about his break up with Azumi, and if he didn't tell them no, they would have flown to Paris in a heartbeat. He could remember that Sanae-chan was livid when she found out about his situation.

He looked down to his beer can, and swished it around. "Well, I'm okay, I guess. It's a surprise isn't it? I would have thought that I'd be seriously depressed about it. I'm sure that's what you guys did too."

"You know we wouldn't think-"

This time it was Taro's turn to give him a blank stare. Tsubasa flinched and leaned back to the bench. "Okay, maybe we did think about it for tiny bit," Taro only snorted before drinking again. "Okay, a lot. And this trip might have something to do with that."

"I figured," Taro shrugged as he looked over the Barcelona sky line. He kind of figured it out that this was their way of making him feel better. They were only caring for him, and he couldn't ask for better friends than them. "But, really I'm fine. Better even. I mean, sometimes when I see her, it still hurts but, you know, it's not as bad as it used to be."

"You…" Tsubasa said, "You really love her don't you."

Taro nodded in confirmation, his eyes drooping as he sunk into the bench. "The same way you love Anego."

"I see," he heard his friend say. Tsubasa took another swig from his can as Taro played with his with his hand.

"To be honest, if it wasn't for Ayame, I would probably be a mess right now," he admitted softly.

"Ayame-chan?"

He hummed once more before taking a drink. "It's funny actually, how we met. She found me drunk outside my apartment. It was the day Azumi broke up with me, and like an idiot that I am, drank myself to oblivion to wallow in self-pity. I was too drunk and miserable to let myself in my home, so she found my keys that I dropped on the floor and brought me inside."

He couldn't help but chuckle trying to imagine how she managed to bring him inside. "Looking back at it now, it must have been quite an adventure for her. How such a tiny girl like her managed to carry me inside would have been funny to see."

Tsubasa smiled from beside him, sipping his drink while he waited for Taro to continue.

"Then after that, we ate breakfast together, and I impulsively told her about me and Azumi. She didn't leave me alone after that. I don't think she knows that I realized that she's angry, pissed even, at Azumi for what she did to me."

"That sounds like her," Tsubasa chuckled. "Ayame-chan has a big heart, no matter how much she doesn't show it. It runs with all Kiseki girls actually. Sanae's the same too."

"You know," Tsubasa started. I hope you don't get offended, but I was kind of happy you told us that you and Azumi weren't together anymore."

He turned to look at his best friend appalled. What the fuck? How could he say that? What did he mean he was happy? He broke up with the love of his life and you tell your best friend that you're happy? What the hell?

He was about to say something, but Tsubasa beat him to it.

"Let me finish," Tsubasa interrupted. Taro closed his mouth and listened.

Tsubasa took a swig from his beer, "Remember when you described Azumi to us as the 'French Anego'?"

He did. It was back in the Junior Youth Tournament when he introduced her to everyone.

"And when I saw her, I was so shocked to see that she almost looked like a spitting image of Sanae. That you weren't exaggerating when you called her the 'French Anego.' Even their personalities were alike, from their hot tempers to how much support they were willing to give, sometimes the boys joked that Sanae followed me all the way to Paris and just changed names so she wouldn't be too obvious."

Then he gave a small chuckle, "Which I wouldn't have mind, even if the guys would have probably teased me to no end. But they didn't need know that."

They would have, Taro thought. But he still didn't see where Tsubasa was going.

"But, the look you gave Azumi, who was so similar to my Sanae, made me think that maybe, maybe you liked Azumi because you were- you were in love with Sanae instead."

Taro jumped in surprise. How in the world did he get that idea? Sure, Azumi and Sanae-chan have some similarities, but they were still two different people.

"To be honest, I kind of felt insecure. That maybe once you get the chance, you're going to go after Sanae. I almost started seeing you as you know a rival. It got worse when you returned to Japan, knowing that I was going to be leaving for Brazil while you stayed close to her."

"Why would you be insecure?" Taro found himself asking his friend.

"You know, that Sanae might leave me for you," Tsubasa confessed.

If this was whole different situation, he would have laughed at this whole thing.

"Tsubasa, that's stupid," Taro exclaimed. "Come on, Anego, leave you? She's been in love with you ever since you came to Nankatsu, and the only one who didn't realize it was you. If she wasn't so into you, people wouldn't even think twice before making move on her."

"I know," Tsubasa sighed. "It's just that, Sanae tells stories about you guys, of what you guys did, it makes me a feel a little jealous how I couldn't be part of her life as much as you did."

He didn't mean to sound mean, but that his fault not theirs. He was the one who decided that he wanted to go to Brazil at such a young age.

"I wouldn't blame you if you managed to fall in love with her in those years that I was gone. I know I would have fallen for her all over again. She's gorgeous, amazing, passionate, caring, everything you'd want in someone," Tsubasa sighed once more. "It also doesn't help that you guys seem to already know stuff about her than I'm only starting find out. Like, did you know she can belt out 'And I am Telling You' perfectly?"

Taro nodded in confirmation. He remembered her singing it one time when they all were hanging out in Morisaki's house to study for exams (well, they were asking from Morisaki since he's the genius out of all the boys. That was also the time when they found out that he lived right next door to Anego. Coincidentally, that was also the time when she was singing the song while acting it out, pretty passionately too).

"My point exactly," Tsubasa said while sinking down the bench. "Like, you guys know all these things about my Sunshine that before I know it, you guys are already in love with her."

"Okay, sure people might like her but we all know that she belongs to you," Taro argued.

"That's the thing!" His friend sat up abruptly. "You guys are so nice that you're not going to take her that instead you might unconsciously start to look for someone that resembles her!"

Taro knitted his eyebrows before sighing and rubbing the bridge of his nose. "So let me get this straight. You think I'm in love with Anego just because Azumi shares some similarities with her?"

"Are you?" Tsubasa asked dumbly.

"No!" Taro exclaimed heatedly. "What made you think that?"

"I don't know? Maybe because your ex reminds every one of my wife?" Tsubasa retorted hotly.

"Will you quit that?" Taro hissed. "Yes, I can see how Azumi and Anego are the same, but they're still two different people. I am not in love with your wife, okay? And I will never be. She's not even my type!"

Tsubasa raised his eyebrows curiously, "You have a type?"

Did he say that? Oh shit.

He groaned and hid his face behind his hand. Why did he even say that? Now look at what he got into.

It's not that he had a type exactly. It's just that, he wanted to someone who…

"Well," he coughed, a pink tint on his cheeks. He was trying hard ignore the snickers his friend was trying to inconspicuously hide. "I'd want someone whose smiles so true, like her smile can bring colors to your life, someone who knows how to joke, but also knows when it's not the time to fool around. I'd want someone who wears her heart on her sleeve for everyone to know what she's feeling. I'd want someone who knows how to help. I'd want someone who understands."

He looked ahead, staring blankly across the city. "I'd like someone who'll be by my side, even when I'm in a tough time, someone who would help me back up after I fail. I'd want someone who would tell me to get my shit together when I'm getting too conceited. I'd want someone who will never leave me. I'd want someone…"

He wanted someone like Azumi. He wanted Azumi back, the old Azumi back. _His_ Azumi.

"Someone like Ayame-chan?"

Taro turned to his friend in surprise. "What?"

Tsubasa shrugged and finished his drink. "I don't know. It was just a suggestion. It's not like I know her that much. You're the one who knows her better."

He stared at his best friend quizzically, still confused about what he said. Tsubasa only smiled and stared right ahead, and if he didn't know any better, it seemed like he was having fun about this whole thing.

They heard someone turning the knob of the front door as it was followed by the voices of the two girls. Their laughs rang throughout the hall accompanied by the ruffling of bags as they continued their lively chatter.

"Tadaima!" Sanae-chan cried jubilantly, Ayame following her closely behind.

"Okaeri!" Tsubasa replied just as happily as they looked inside the apartment. They didn't fail to notice the large amount of bags sitting on the couch. "You guys look like you had fun."

"Yup!" Sanae-chan answered as she took one of the plastic bags with her. "We kind of got carried away with shopping."

"Wait until you see what she bought for you, Tsubasa," Ayame remarked as she took off her cardigan and placed it on the back of the couch. "You guys are going to be busy once Taro and I are gone."

"Oh?" Tsubasa said with a raised eyebrow. "Now you just made me curious."

"Shut up!" Sanae-chan laughed before going inside the kitchen. They heard her open the cabinets before they heard her mutter a soft curse. "Hey, Tsubasa, can you come here really quick? We got some _bunyols_ and I want to put it in a bowl. All of our large bowls are too high for me to reach sadly."

"Will I get to see what you bought if I help you?" Tsubasa teasingly asked before standing up with his empty can to go inside the apartment.

"Just get in here."

"Coming dear," he chuckled before disappearing into the kitchen.

Ayame stood there for moment, a small smile on her face as she watched her cousin interact with her wife before turning to face the balcony. Her smile fell once she saw him still sitting on the bench. Slowly, she started to walk towards him.

"Hey there you," she greeted as she took a seat beside him. Taro turned towards her with a smile.

"Hi," he replied back.

"So how was your day?" she asked. "We haven't seen each other since this morning. How it did go with Tsubasa's team?"

"It was pretty great," he answered, turning away. For some reason he could feel his heart beat against his chest. "Tsubasa's teammates were amazing. The whole team was amazing." He felt himself smile remembering the events from today.

"That's great," she giggled. "I'm glad you had fun. I was a little worried when I saw you here all on your own with a weird look on your face. If Tsubasa said something wrong to you, I'd probably beat him up."

"Then Anego will beat you up," he replied as he finished the rest of his beer.

"Oh shit, you're right," she sighed. "And she packed a mean punch too. Last time she hit me when I was teasing her, I had a bruise for five days."

"That's what you get for making fun of her," he chuckled. "You know how she can be."

She shrugged and leaned into the bench. "It's fun teasing her. Besides, what are best friends for?"

He chuckled once more and finally turned to her, feeling that he was calm enough to face her. "So anyway, how about you? How was shopping today? I'm sure you had a riot going everywhere."

"Oh hell yeah I did!" she cried out. "So Sanae brought me back to…"

He listened to her chatter about her shopping escapades in the streets of Barcelona, and couldn't help smile as he heard her talk. He always liked seeing the way her eyes light up whenever she talked about what she loved. He liked the way her voice was just so lively and passionate when she talks, liked the way her smile was just so big, so bright, she made him feel like the world was so full of life and color and…

She makes his life full of color…

He stopped listening, his eyes widening for a fraction.

That didn't make any sense. He didn't remember that Ayame was like Azumi. Or was it the other way around. This was- this was too confusing.

"-which made Sanae buy tons of lingerie for a reason you could probably guess," he was interrupted from his thoughts by her laugh, and suddenly his heart started beating against his chest loudly once more.

"Oh!" she jumped from her seat suddenly. "I need to ask the lovebirds something. Also, we should probably go inside before they eat all the _bunyols_. Come on!"

Before he could even say anything, she pulled him by his hand and dragged him inside the apartment. Somehow, he couldn't help the smile forming on his lips with the way his hand seemed to fit hers perfectly.

"Hey Sanae, when are you guys going to me kids to spoil rotten?"

Maybe Tsubasa was right, maybe he wasn't. But he knew, he didn't know what his life would be like without her.

* * *

"You think it worked?" Sanae asked her husband as they got inside their apartment. They just dropped off the Taro and Ayame to the airport. Their week-long stay in Barcelona finally ending. "I mean, I didn't exactly plan that they already know each other…"

Tsubasa closed the door and followed her inside. "Who knows? I'm just glad that Taro wasn't as down as I expected him to be. I never did like Hayakawa that much."

Sanae rolled her eyes and went into the kitchen. "Taro-kun doesn't like me that way. How many times do I have tell you that? We're like siblings."

"I know," Tsubasa said he took off his shirt, throwing it on the couch before following her into the kitchen. "He already explained to me that no, he did not, and will not, ever like you that way. Besides, he told me some pretty interesting stuff."

"Really?" Sanae turned to face him curiously from where she stood leaning against the counter.

Tsubasa hummed in confirmation as he walked closer to her. His eyes were looking down towards her lips, something his wife didn't seem to notice. He put his hand under her chin, tracing her lips with his thumb. "I think he likes Ayame-chan, he just doesn't know it yet."

"No way," she said with a giddy smile. Maybe this wasn't a failed plan after all.

Tsubasa hummed once more, this time putting his hands against the counter, trapping his wife inside him as he buried his face on her neck. Sanae still didn't seem to notice what he wanted. "If anything, I don't think we even had to invite them here. They'd probably work it out one way or another even without our 'help'?"

He then started kissing her throat. Surely by now she'd figure out what he was doing.

He felt her chuckles against his lips.

"Is it just me or are you really eager right now, Mr. Oozora?" she asked.

"Maybe," he sang teasingly as he nibbled on her ear. "It has been quite some time since we made love."

"Would you really take the risk of having sex while your best friend and my cousin were sleeping just a few doors down?" She said while ran her hands through her husband's body.

"Only if you knew how to be quiet," he replied as he made her sit on top of the counter. He started trailing kisses down her throat once more, his hands firmly set on her hips.

"It's your fault-," she couldn't help but gasp as Tsubasa bit down on her collar. "It's your fault that I'm so loud."

"Prepare to scream louder then," he whispered seductively to her ear. "I'm going to fuck you so hard till you lose your voice."

She felt her stomach heat up, and that feel of wetness down her. She always loved it when he talked dirty.

"I'm expecting amazing sex all day long then," she said as she wrapped her legs around his waist.

He gave her a smirk as he leaned towards her. "You bet it will be."

Finally, he took her lips in his.

End Chapter

* * *

AN: that last past kind of turned into a TsuSan moment, but i gotta release the sexual tension with Ayame and Misaki somehow. Maybe one day i'll be able to write smut about them. fingers crossed. but yeah, there's that. i'd always planned that Barcelona as some sort of catalyst for their relationship (for both sides really. remember we haven't been reading through Aya's eyes for awhile. the only person who probably knows what's going on in her head is Sanae. lol, what could she be thinking about). Misaki is clearly starting to like her, and just like what Tsubasa said, he just doesnt know it yet. But he's starting to realize it, that im sure. let's just see what happens in the future.

also the thing with everyone liking Sanae... i clearly do think that if Sanae wasn't so taken by Tsubasa, and they believed that Tsubasa didn't like Sanae, they'd probably make a move on her. Sadly, these two dorks are too much in love with each other it worked out in the end. And I kind of liked how Tsubasa said his insecurity about Azumi. I mean come on, I think she deserved better from Takahashi-sensei. Its like he was running out of ideas for making new female characters that he was reusing ideas instead. Calling her the "French Anego" is just brutal. So yeah, I'm not dissing those people who like the TsuSanTaro triangle (I've read fanfictions that can pull it off GREATLY, no matter how much it makes me uncomfortable), I just don't like how Takahashi-sensei makes such flat female characters.

okay rant over, im gonna shut up now.

thanks for reading and please review!

Cya


	12. Lost Colors

AN: again lets ignore responsibilities

yeah i dont own captain tsubasa

* * *

Chapter 12: Lost Colors

"Hey check this out," Ayame plopped beside him on her couch and showed him her phone. He took a glance at it, turning away from his laptop for a brief moment to see what exactly she wanted to show him.

Okay, he could admit that was an adorable puppy, but he didn't see what the big deal was about it.

"It's cute," he said before turning back to his laptop. "If you're planning on getting it, do it after you come back from America. I am not going to take care of it for you."

"Huh?" she exclaimed in confusion. She took her phone back and looked at it. "Oh that is a cute Lab. But, anyway. Not that. This one!" She tapped something on her phone before shoving it back to his face. He blinked from his enthusiasm before finally focusing again on her cellular device.

She was showing him a picture, a guy and a girl walking along familiar streets. They had huge grins on their faces, but he couldn't exactly see their eyes because they were covered by dark sunglasses. The guy's arm was draped over the girl's shoulders, pulling her close while the girl had her arm on his waist. They didn't seem to know their picture was being taken, but somehow it was better that way.

Okay, that was also another good picture, but he didn't see why she wanted to show it to him aside from the fact that she might have been admiring the buildi-

Wait. Hold up.

"Is that-" he started with knitted eyebrows. "Is that us? When we were in Barcelona?" He took the phone from her hand and took a closer look.

"Yup!" she answered with a laugh. "They finally have a picture of us together. I'm surprised they're only releasing these. We've been hanging out for a long time and this is the first time they actually posted something about it. You should read the article they wrote. It's fucking hilarious."

She laughed once more as he scrolled down her phone, reading the huge text bolded on the bottom of the picture.

**_Taro Misaki and a new flame? How he seemed to be moving on from his (hidden) relationship and break-up._**

He skimmed through the article, finding it incredulous as he went through it. They think they're dating now? Just because they were together didn't mean they were in a relationship. They're only friends!

_"__She seemed to share similarities with the girl Misaki brought to the Ligue Gala. According to our other team members, she has the same height and body figure as the girl. Other sources have also confirmed that they've seen the PSG midfielder with a girl like her all over Paris. We're not sure yet, but we believe they're one and the same. _

_"__Is she Misaki's new lady after his hidden and unexpected relationship with supermodel Azumi Hayakawa? Or was this girl the reason why those two broke up in the first place?_

_We guess we just have to find out more."_

This was bullshit. Pure, unfiltered crap. Who even believed in this?

"Props to them for making the connection between me and the 'mystery girl' from the gala," Ayame remarked as she laid her chin on his shoulder, rereading the article with a silly smile on her face. Why was she so amused by this anyway? Didn't she know how bad it was going to be for her?

"You realize people are going to be looking for you now, don't you?" he turned to her with a disbelieving look on his face. "Especially when we go out together. They'll never stop following you."

Ayame shrugged and took her chin off his shoulder, grabbing the television remote from the table to turn it on. "Maybe," she said. "But it's not like they're going to have plenty of times to catch us together. I am going back to New York tomorrow. I won't be back in Paris until three weeks later. This whole issue should die down by that time. After all, what can they make stories out of when their source is missing? They don't even know my name."

They would know sooner or later, he was sure.

"Speaking of," she said once she put it on a replay of the game between Bordeaux and Marseille. "Are you sure you still want to drop me off to the airport? I can always take a cab."

"No, its fine," he replied returning back to his laptop. He was still trying to finish reading his mom sent him. She really wanted him to come visit sometime soon. It had been a while since he last saw them. Christmas maybe? "I'd rather take you than someone you don't know."

"…Taro, I've taken taxis and cabs for almost my whole life and nothing happened to me yet."

"And nothing should ever happen. Don't make it change," he retorted. He didn't know he didn't want her taking a cab, but the idea of it always made him uneasy. He didn't even know when the feeling started. He just knew he hated it. "Besides, this way you don't have to spend more money than necessary. Remember, you spent almost €5,000 on clothes alone in Barcelona. Then you spent cash on all those street foods you bought. And I know you haven't been to an ATM machine to get more money since you've been busy packing."

He could see from the corner of his eye that she was turning red, a sign of her embarrassment as well as his correct statements.

"Ugh, I hate it when you get like this," she sulked with her arms cross. "I just don't want to bother you. It's out of way from where you train at. And my flight's at 7 at night but I have to be there by 5. I don't want you rushing out of training just to drop me off."

"I told you its fine," he turned to her in exasperation. "It's not like I'm rushing anyway. I'll be back here by 4:30 pm to drop you off. It's not a big deal."

Ayame sighed and put her head on his shoulder. "If you're sure... I guess I can't exactly say no to that."

It was quick, and faint, but he was sure he felt her kiss his cheek.

"Thank you," he heard her day softly. But before he could even process what happened, Ayame jumped from the couch, stretching her arms up above her head while yawning.

"Well," she turned to him, and there wasn't even a hint on her face that the last few seconds happened. He knew it did, and he was miffed that she was pretending that nothing happened.

He feels like he needed to clarify something.

Before he could even speak, she beat him to it.

"I'm gonna go to my own home and get me some sleep. My flight might not be that early, but I'll be stressing out double checking everything." She waved him goodbye as she walked towards his door. "Good night hotshot, sweet dreams and don't stay up late. Remember you have training early tomorrow. See you!"

He could only stare at his door while it closes after her.

* * *

He quickly got out of the shower and rushed to get his clothes on. It was still early, but he wanted to have more time to pick up Ayame from the apartment and drop her off to the airport. She hated being late, or anyone that was late. She'd give him a mouthful if he even arrived by just a minute late.

Slinging his bag on his arm, he stood up from the bench and started to head out of locker room.

"Going somewhere, Misaki?" Moretti, their goalkeeper, asked him as he pushed his shirt down. "You seemed to be in a hurry."

Misaki gave him a small smile. "You could say that. I'm dropping my friend off to the airport."

"Who? Iris?" Simon asked as he joined the conversation. "She going somewhere?"

Misaki nodded, taking his keys from his pockets. "She's going to New York to visit her parents. She won't be back a week before the month ends."

"Speaking of," Napoleon said before draping an arm around his shoulders. "You wanna tell us something buddy? About any changes to your life?"

Misaki looked at him with a questioning stare. What in the world was he talking about? "What do you mean changes in my life?"

"You know, like your _love_ life," the blond clarified. "That we just found out apparently did exist."

…The last time he had a love life was five months ago.

He only could stare at Napoleon dryly. He was not amused.

"Are you finally dating Iris or not?"

What the hell? Why did people keep on thinking they were in relationship?

"What's going on?" Lindström joined in, stopping in the middle of putting his shirt on. "What's this I hear about Misaki being in a relationship?"

"Napoleon wants to know if he's dating the girl he brought with him at the Gala," Simon answered for him, ignoring his irritated expression.

"Really? Sweet! I love that girl. She's got character that's for sure," Lindström laughed. "She's great for him."

"She's pretty too. Man, if I could I would have asked for her number. You're lucky, Misaki."

"I'd take her out anytime too."

"If you guys ever break up, tell her I'm willing to be rebound, Misaki."

Duly noted, Carter, but that's not going to happen since they weren't in any kind of relationship except of the platonic kind.

"Guys, guys," he called out. "I already said this before, we're _not_ dating. We're just friends. And trust me, if you spend a lot of time with her, you wouldn't want to be in a relationship with her. She'd devour you."

His teammates stared at him, before Moretti and Carter shared looks with each other.

"Dude, hit me up with her!" Moretti cried out as he pulled out his phone from his pants' pocket.

"No, ask her if I can take her out to dinner tomorrow!" Carter shoved Moretti out of the way, also with his phone in hand.

"Guys…" Misaki murmured, "I told you, didn't I? She's leaving today and won't be back in three weeks."

"Damn!"

He stared at them blankly as his teammates started to lament over the information they just received. This was ironic. Wasn't Ayame looking for a "hot soccer dude" a while back? Now that there were guys available to her, she leaves.

"Damn, Marie's not going to stop pestering me again," he heard Napoleon click his tongue beside him. He didn't get it. What did Marie have to do with anything?

"What?" Misaki asked him.

"She's obsessed in finding out if you guys finally ask each other out," Napoleon informed him. "Sure, I'm also waiting for that day to come. But she literally hits me with a pillow every single time I tell her that no, you guys are not dating."

Marie being violent? That seemed unbelievable.

"Isn't that a little abusive?" Misaki laughed nervously.

Napoleon only shrugged. "You get used to it," he replied. "Besides, you've seen her. She's so weak they don't even hurt. I hit her back anyway, so we have a pillow war going on every time. Score's 33-34 by the way with me leading."

Misaki only shook his head from his friend's statements. Even right now, he still couldn't fathom the relationship of those two. He wouldn't even be surprised if they announced they were going to get married tomorrow, no dates, no courting, just straight up marriage. No one's even going to ask because they knew it was coming. Tsk, childhood friends.

He suddenly felt his phone vibrate from his pocket, and he immediately grabbed it. He looked to see who was calling him, and knitted his eyebrows in confusion. Ayame? Why was she calling at this time? He still had some time right?

Sliding his thumb over the screen, he put it against his ear and answered it.

"Hey," he greeted.

_"__Hey there, superstar"_ answered her voice from the other line.

"What's up?" he asked as he walked a little farther from his teammates, who suddenly got louder again. "Something wrong?"

_"__No, no. Just… wanted to ask for a small favor?" _he heard her ask softly. Why was it that he had a feeling he was going to regret asking what it would be?

"Sure, what do you need?" he said as he headed towards the door.

_"__I'm really craving Canelé,"_ she admitted sheepishly. He could just imagine that shy smile she was probably wearing on her face. It didn't help him though. _"I was kind of wondering if you buy can buy me some…?"_

"Why can't you buy them?" he sighed exasperatedly. "I thought you wanted me to be there early."

_"__I do!"_ she cried out. _"But I really really want to eat those."_

"You're going to be eating on the plane anyway, why do you want to eat so close to your flight?" he argued.

_"__But Canelé!" _she argued back. _"Plus they won't feed me until two hours after take-off. I'll be starving! Don't you care about me? I'll share them with you…"_

He sighed once again, "Fine, you whiner. I'll get them for you. Just be sure you don't eat them all."

_"__Yay! You're the best."_

"I know," he replied with a chuckle as he pushed the doors open, finally leaving the room. "So where do you want me t-"

Totally engrossed by his conversation with her, he didn't notice the amused looks and sniggers his teammates gave him as he left the locker room.

Napoleon looked to Moretti and Carter, who were sharing smiles between the two of them. "I don't think you guys even have a chance with her," Napoleon told them. "He's already wrapped around her finger, he just doesn't know it yet."

"We know," Carter replied. "It's fun goading him, even if he still wasn't falling for it. I'm sure he will someday. He's the only one who doesn't realize it yet."

"I'm sure Iris can wait," Napoleon answered, turning back to the door. "She's been waiting for this long already. She's not going to stop now."

* * *

He took her luggage from the trunk of his car as she took out her passport from her bag. He was surprised this was her only bag, considering what carried when they went to Barcelona. She only answered by explaining to him she didn't need to bring a lot since she had stuff in New York to use. It made sense. That was her home after all. Her _real _home.

Damn it, why was he already missing her? She hadn't even step foot inside the airport, and here he was thinking that she wasn't coming back. Of course she was, she's studying here after all. But that wrenching feeling in him just wouldn't go away. Besides, it's not like he was her boyfriend. He should be able to deal with three weeks of her away.

"Hey hotshot, hey," he blinked from his thoughts when someone snapped in front of his face just to see Ayame looking at him with concern on her face. "You okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," he answered as he gave her the suitcase. She was adamant that he just drop her off and go. It was already bad enough that she was making him drop her off, and parking just to help her to get inside was too much, she said.

Ayame stared at him for a while, before sighing and giving him a smile. "If you say so," she said. She took her suitcase from his hand and set it beside her.

"Thanks for dropping me off again," she said.

"No problem," he smiled. "Anytime. We're friends aren't we?"

He didn't seem to notice her smile straining. It was back to its usual cheerful one.

"Of course we are," she huffed. "Who knows where you'll be without it me?"

He only chuckled in reply before joined in with her own giggles.

"So I guess I'll be going now," she told him. "Remember there's food in your fridge when get hungry."

"Yup," he replied.

"And don't forget to do your laundry."

"I won't."

"Just go to my apartment if you're missing anything, okay?"

"Okay."

"And if you need to talk to someone, just call alright," she concluded.

His eyes softened as he looked at her. This girl will look after him forever, wouldn't she?

"I will."

Ayame then gave him another smile and launched herself at him, hugging him tightly. He hugged her back, putting his chin on her head as the smell of her flower scented shampoo entered her nose. He'll miss this scent.

They separated from each other, and Ayame's smile never wavered.

"I'll see you in three weeks," she said as she grabbed her suitcase once more.

"I'll see you in three weeks," he repeated with a nod.

"I'll text you when I get there," she added.

Great, that way he knew she was safe. "Okay."

With one last wave, Ayame finally took off towards the airport entrance as he watched her leave with his hand raised up in goodbye.

Somehow, when she was finally out of his sight, his world suddenly lost all its colors.

End Chapter

* * *

AN: lol, misaki youre such a doof. that's not how friendship works. you seem to be on the border right now. but yeah, ayame's going to America to visit family. who knows what will happen to our hero without his princess. we just dont know. and we still have no idea what ayame feels, although she seemed like knows what she's feeling. hopefully we'll find out more soon.

this is it for now. i still gotta go back to doing college applications so wish me luck

thanks for reading and please review. dont be scared i dont bite


	13. It's Time

AN: writing for this story always lifts my mood up for some reason

**guest-**here you go! hope you like it. thanks for reading and reviewing

yeah i don own captain tsubasa

* * *

Chapter 13: It's Time

"So it's true then, huh? You do finally have a new girlfriend."

Who the hell?

He turned around sharply, ready to give the person who just made the remark a piece of his mind, but it was all thrown out of his mind when he saw who exactly said those.

"_Otou-san!_" he exclaimed with surprise written on his face. What was he doing here? He never told him he was coming. "Wha-how-I-when?" he spluttered.

"Just right now," Misaki Ichiro answered nonchalantly. "I was planning on surprising you in your apartment, but then I noticed you with someone, someone that you're apparently been seeing according to internet tabloids, and so I decided to stay for a while and watch my son say goodbye to such a pretty lady. Good choice by the way."

"Were not-I'm not- Ayame's just a friend!" he denied as he felt his face heat up. Why was he embarrassed about this? It was true! They were only friends, and it was just his dad. There's nothing to be embarrassed about this. In fact, he should be more convicted. "And don't believe those articles. You know how they blow everything out of proportion."

"She's Japanese?"

"Half," Taro clarified immediately. "Her dad's Japanese while her mom's American."

Ichiro put a hand under his chin. "So that's why she looked a little different. Good choice, my son. I knew you had my eye for beauty."

"_Otou-san_!" he exclaimed once more with exasperation. "We're just friends!"

"You seemed to be pretty close with her from what I saw. It didn't look like she was just a friend to me."

Ichiro was looking at his son with a teasing smirk, clearly making fun of him to Taro's chagrin. He still couldn't understand how people see them as more than friends. They were not, and never will be. Maybe.

…What was he thinking, of course they weren't going to be anything more than friends. Their relationship was purely platonic and will remain that way.

He rolled his eyes and grabbed one of his dad's bags. "Whatever. I'm done arguing about this. In fact, I'm done arguing about this to anyone. Let's go home."

Ichiro laughed quietly to himself as he followed his son to his car. It was a rare occurrence to see Taro frustrated. He was usually one to shut his emotions off. But seeing him with that girl, Ayame, brought out changes in him that Ichiro didn't think Taro even realizes.

She'd be good for him.

Dropping the subject just to appease his son, the two of them started their journey back to Taro's apartment, talking about various things. But most of all, his surprise visit to him. He usually called when he was coming.

"Someone commissioned me to paint the French country side. Didn't exactly say where, just a French country side. So I'll be spending my days here trekking across France once more," Ichiro chuckled as they got out of his car. They took his father's luggage and finally headed to his apartment.

"So are you just going around the country until you find the perfect scene to paint?" Taro asked once they got into the elevator. "Wouldn't that cost too much work? I'm not entirely sure that would be a great idea. Remember _Otou-san_, you're not exactly getting any younger here."

Ichiro huffed a sigh. His only son could be such a worrywart sometimes. "I'll be fine. Besides, a camera is one of the best inventions mankind ever made. I'll probably do rough sketches instead of painting a whole piece. I just really need a reference and paint most of it back in my studio at home."

"I still think I should go with you," Taro said. They went out of the elevator and he prepared the keys to his home.

"No, you're staying here, young man," Ichiro ordered him as they got inside. Taro headed straight to one the free bedrooms, or really his father's room. That's where he usually sleeps whenever he comes. He deposited his father's luggage on the foot of the bed and went to the kitchen. "Training already started right? You need to be there if you want to win the league for the second time."

"But I'm worried about y-"

"Taro…" Ichiro warned.

He sighed and crossed his arms. Like he said, his father was not getting any younger, and Ichiro was already showing signs of age catching up to him. Just last year, when he came home for the summer holidays, he found out his father's cholesterol level was at a dangerously high level, and not to mention his hypertension and high blood pressure. Then there's also his arthritis happening now and then. He wasn't as worried back when he was in Japan because his aunt was just a call away and Taro was sure she was taking care of his father. Here in France though, was a whole different story.

But he knew his father always wanted to be independent…

"Alright," Taro conceded. "But I expect you to call me every night."

"Fair enough," Ichiro said. "That's a good comprise. If I can't call I'll send you a message."

"You better," he said as he opened his fridge. It was weird seeing it full of containers and food. He was used to it being empty, often times only seeing some milk and occasionally leftovers when he decides to cook. "You want anything?" he asked his father as he grabbed the bottle of orange juice out.

"You actually have something?" Ichiro teased. "That's a first. And here I thought I have to scold you about eating out every time. I'll have some of that orange juice as well please."

"Real funny, _Otou-san_," Taro remarked sarcastically as he took out two glasses and put them on the counter to fill them with the drink. "I'll have you know I've eaten out less often than you think."

"Is that so?"

"Yes," he confirmed, passing his dad the glass. "Ayame's been feeding me whenever she cooks, which is pretty much every day. She's- she's like a mom sometimes, always trying to take care of me. She even reworked her cooking habits to match my lifestyle."

Ichiro raised an eyebrow at this fact his son just told him. "Oh?"

"Yup," Taro answered as he took a drink from his glass. "Want to check my fridge? She cooked food for me so I 'don't starve to death' according to her." Then he added under his breath. "I don't even know why she thinks I'm going to starve myself. I can feed myself perfectly fine."

Ichiro chuckled hearing his son. He hasn't even met the girl yet, but he was already liking her. And for the fact that she wasn't even dating his son (yet), showing this much concern for him was warming his heart.

"She seems like a nice girl," he remarked as Taro finished the rest of his drink. Taro looked from the corner of his eye towards him before gently setting his glass on the table and turning to the vase on the bar counter, full of brightly colored irises.

"Yeah," he said, "Yeah, she is. She's the kindest girl I've ever known."

Ichiro watched as his son's gaze softened as the wind from the balcony gently swayed the petals of the flowers.

"I'd be lost without her."

* * *

Ichiro looked around the quaintly decorated building as Taro looked through the menu, browsing on what to get for dinner. It seemed to be a pretty old establishment, but it still looked well-maintained. The smell that wafted from the kitchen of the bistro could also tell him that the food here will be phenomenal.

"This is a great place," he said as he browsed through the menu. "Their food smells amazing too."

"They taste great too," Taro said, closing athe menu, apparently finished choosing what to get. "You should try the _Soupe à l'Oignon_. They cook the best one I've ever tasted."

Ichiro smiled and nodded. "I'll get that then. I'm going to get _Coq au Vin_ as well."

"That one taste great too. You'll like it," Taro told him. Before they knew it, a waitress finally came and take their orders. She seemed to be quite familiar with Taro, but Ichiro didn't remark on it as it seemed like the girl knew not to make a move on his son. After taking their orders, the girl left to pass their orders on with a friendly wink.

The two of them began to chat some more as they waited for them food to come. They talked about how they've been, PSG's win in the last league and how they think the team will fair this season, Ichiro's projects and his life back in Japan, normal stuff, _harmless _stuff. Taro didn't know whether his father meant it or not (he probably did), but not once did he mention Azumi at all.

Before they knew it, their food finally arrived.

"So how exactly did you find this place?" Ichiro asked as they started to eat.

"Hmm?" Taro looked up from his plate. "Oh, Ayame brought me here when we first met. After that we've been coming here if either of us are too lazy to cook. Of course, she also showed me other places, but we agreed _Belle's_ was our favorite."

Ayame again? Was he really being honest about not being in a relationship with her?

"Are you really sure you guys aren't dating?" Ichiro inquired once more. Taro huffed irately and was about to answer but his dad beat him to it. "No listen. Listen to yourself I mean. Ever since I came here, Ayame's name has been coming up every time in our conversations. Whether we talk about food or anything, you always mention her. Really, son, how do you expect people to believe you guys aren't together when every time, you bring her name up?"

"Well, what can you expect?" Taro asked rhetorically, "She's the only one who constantly hangs out with me. Napoleon's with his childhood friend and making up for lost time because she spent last year studying in New York, and all my other friends are either in another country or have their own families to attend to. I guess since we don't know how to spend all these extra time we have, we just kind of gravitated towards each other." He shrugged, before finally eating a piece of the steak.

"That's not what I meant," Ichiro said, his face serious. Taro stopped his eating and slowly turned back to look at his father, confusion written on his face.

"Taro, I want you to really look into yourself, maybe even observe how you act when you're with her. Or even just listen to your words when you talk about her. You might think it's nothing, but for some, they would really assume the wrong thing with how you act," Ichiro chastised his son. "And this is all just my own observation when she's not even here. Who knows what I would think when I see you two together."

He stared at his father for a long time, contemplating on his words. Did he really talk about Ayame that much? He didn't know, talking about her seemed so… natural to him. Was it because she was the only one he spent most of time with? Or perhaps, dare he say it, he was actually starting to _like_ her like his dad was alluding?

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "God, _Otou-san_," he said, "You're sounding so much like Tsubasa right now and I don't really know how to feel about it."

"Tsubasa?"

He nodded absentmindedly, grabbing his fork to play idly with his plate. "I had a talk with him when we came to Barcelona. And somehow, it turned into him believing that Ayame was the perfect girl for me."

"Is he right then?" Ichiro asked gently, taking a spoonful of his soup and catching his son off guard. Taro stared at him in shock, baffled at how his father could even handle this so calmly.

"I-" he felt his throat dry up. "I don't know…" Taro found himself admitting. And he really didn't. He wasn't sure what he thinks, or felt for that matter. He knew he just didn't want to recognize it, or admit it, but he knew that he was starting to feel something for her. He always ignored it when his heart skips a beat whenever she gave him a look, ignored it when she smiles at him and his stomach starts to close up, ignored it whenever his throat would dry up whenever she gets too close with her bright eyes that reflects her whole being. He ignored his frantic heartbeat, pounding against his chest whenever she touches him so tenderly.

But did it really mean he was starting to –dare he say it- fall in love with her? Was it proof that he was ready to move on, when he could catch himself still longing for Azumi? How was it the right time for him to move on, when he still thinks about his ex-girlfriend?

Even if Ayame's been taking up a bigger part of his life.

"You know," Ichiro began, looking down toward his food, "I haven't told you about this, but this might be the right time to say it, I suppose."

Taro looked up to him, a curious look on his face. What did his father mean?

Ichiro took a deep breath, "I met someone, back when I was visiting an art gallery in Tokyo. We were both just looking at a painting of a new artist, but there was something in her eye, or rather, there was something lacking. Before I knew it, she began to tell me the story of the painting, until I knew it was the last painting of her oldest daughter before committing suicide. Not knowing what to do, I told her how her daughter was talented to produce such a great painting. She only gave me a smile, and soon after that we got some coffee together."

There was a smile on his dad's face, and somehow he could already figure out what was going on.

"And without me knowing it, we've been meeting for coffee once a week," he ended.

"_Otou-san_..." he mumbled. "Do you…" He couldn't finish his question. He knew his father already knew what he was going to ask.

For some reason, he couldn't seem to wrap his mind around this. He could remember those nights in his childhood, catching a glimpse of his dad staring at a picture of his mom when he thought he was sleeping. He could never forget the pained expression on his face when they saw her, already happy with a new family.

He always believed that his father was still in love with his mother, and knowing that he might actually be liking another person was a little bit rattling.

"I might," Ichiro shrugged, then this voice softened. "I'm starting to. Who knows… but it's about time, no?"

Taro gulped down his answer, instead only giving him a tight smile.

"And if it's about time for me," his father began, "Maybe it's time for you too."

* * *

His father went directly to bed as soon as they got home, bidding him a good night as he headed to his room. Taro greeted him back with a tight smile and nod, going to his own room to change. He planned on heading to bed just like his father but when he lied down on his bed, sleep would not come to him.

He just had too much on his mind.

He sat on the couch beside his balcony doors, leaning the side of his head against the glass. Even at this time of the night, Paris was still shining with lights. The title of "The City of Lights" really did fit the city.

The cars sped down the Parisian roads, just like how his thoughts ran through his head.

He didn't make it known, but he was deeply troubled by his father's words. At first, he couldn't wrap it around knowing that his dad might suddenly be involved with someone. It was just- he- he always believed that his father would love his mother through his last hours. After all, he would have had someone to be with him in all those years his mom was gone, just like how his mother easily found someone to replace them (not exactly replace them. Taro knew that his mother still loved them somewhere in her heart, he loved her too. But in the end, it wasn't strong enough to overcome her selfish wants and needs). Why now?

But… thinking back on it, maybe it was his father's time to finally be able to find another person to hold his heart in her hands. There was always something in the back of his mind that thought it was unfair how his mother could find someone so easily while his father looked longingly at anything that reminded him of her (Ichiro always made a _teru teru bozu_ and hang it at their window every time it rains, a tradition he kept continuing even if his mother already left, and sometimes Taro did it too for old times' sakes).

Maybe the loneliness just got to his father, and he wasn't getting any younger either. He knew he's father wouldn't even dare to ask him to come back to Japan, or even come stay with him here in Paris. He was never fond of the city. Maybe that's why he started seeing this woman. He wanted, _craved_ a companionship that Taro couldn't provide.

_Maybe it's time for you too._

He blinked his eyes and sighed through his nose. Those words have been bugging him ever since his father uttered them to him. Was it really? Really his time to jump into another relationship when he still didn't know what's going on with him exactly. He enjoyed Ayame's company, he really did. And maybe she did have times when she could make his heart beat fast, take his breath away, and make him that he was falling in love.

But was it really true, when the reasons why he was starting to _like_ her was because it was reminding him of Azumi?

If that was the case, then no. He'd rather die than hurt her like this. Ayame deserved more than that, deserved more than him.

He felt his phone vibrate, accompanied by that chipper Disney song that she bought on his phone (without permission as expected) to signal that it was her calling. Sure enough, when he looked at it, the name _Aya_ was printed largely on his screen.

Without even realizing it, he swiped his screen to answer her call and brought it up beside his ear.

"Hey," he greeted warmly.

_"__Hi!"_ he heard her reply back on the other line. _"I told you I'd call when I get here. I just got back from the airport and I'm safe and sound in my parents' home."_

"Good," he said with a smile. He was relieved that she got home safely.

_"__But, anyway; aren't you a little night owl tonight? You don't usually stay up this late when I'm not bugging you. You're usually in bed by now… It's like- what 10 at night right now?"_

"Close to 11 actually," he corrected.

_"__Really? Wow, hotshot that is pretty late for someone like you. What's up? Something bothering you?"_

_Yes,_ he wanted to answer. _I don't know whether I'm in love with you or not, and its driving me insane. You're driving me insane._

"No," he replied. "Just… can't sleep. My dad surprised me by arriving here in Paris right when I dropped you off. We actually met at the airport directly after you left." _And saw us talking and proceeded to tease me._

He heard her swear softly from the other line, and he couldn't help but chuckle at her annoyed huff_. "I could have met your dad. That would have been awesome! That way I could rub it in Ayu's face I met her idol face to face."_

Oh yeah, there was that. He remembered how her twin shyly asked him whether he was related to one Misaki Ichiro. Ayuri looked up to his dad apparently; something about praising his father's coloring style and smooth lines. He wasn't sure. He might have some artistic ability. But Taro never did get that much interested in art or painting. Not someone to lie, of course he told Ayuri how they were related. To say that he was shocked when Ayuri's eyes sparkled like the ocean under the hot sun was an understatement. Usually it was Ayame's who did that, especially when she's browsing through a top designer's collection for the season. But he was pretty sure his neighbor liked his dad too, judging from the way Ayame always glanced at the various paintings of his dad that was littered through his apartment.

_"__How long is he staying? Do you think he'll still be there when I come back?"_ she asked, and he tried not to laugh at her anxious tone in her voice. Maybe she was more excited to meet his dad than her sister was.

"Maybe," he answered, a little unsure. He still didn't know when exactly his father planned on leaving France, but he did say he was going to come back here in Paris first before journeying back to Japan. "I don't know yet. He's going to be staying for a while, taking pictures of the French country side. Someone commissioned him or something."

_"__So he might be still be there…"_ she trailed off. _"Okay that's cool. I can deal with that. I would have punched myself in the face if I missed a chance like this."_

He chuckled once more at her behavior. Expect her inflict self-pain. It's not like this was her only chance to meet his dad. Sooner or later, they're bound to meet.

"Might," he stressed teasingly. "There's no guarantee he'll be here."

_"__There's no guarantee he's not there either,"_ was her smooth counter.

He rolled his eyes jokingly. "Whatever," he said. "Anyway. How was the flight?"

_"__It was… okay,"_ she answered, and he could almost imagine her shrugging her shoulders when she said that. _"I mean, it should be, it's first class after all. But I can't complain since I wasn't paying for it. The seats were awesome, and I had lots of leg room. I got some sleep, nicer food definitely. It's just really weird being in first class."_

"At least you were comfortable," he said to her.

_"__Yeah, at least that's a perk,"_ she giggled softly. _"But, yeah other than that. It was pretty uneventful. Of course there was that one hot young business man in a sexy suit, but he looked like he was married to his job _and_ a playboy so I let him be. He probably wouldn't satisfy me anyway."_

He couldn't resist the laugh that came out of him. Trust her to indirectly insult a guy she hadn't even met.

_"__So I arrived at JFK and waited for Shizuka to come pick me up. She almost forgot me too. She was busy trying to figure out a physics problem online because she just wanted too. Freaking geniuses."_

There was another chuckle coming from him, really amused at her relationship with her two sisters. He might have met her oldest sister yet, but he knew she'd have another great bond with her as well.

He faintly heard her speak something in English before he finally heard back from her.

_"__Oh hey, I gotta go hotshot. We're leaving for dinner soon," _she said. _"Dad was adamant to eat at his favorite Japanese steakhouse in Manhattan, and Shizuka's not willing to drive downtown so we have to take the metro to meet up with the parents."_

"It's fine," he replied. "Go ahead. Go spend time with your family. You barely even get to see them. Make use of it. Don't worry about me."

_"__I am not worrying about you,"_ she huffed. _"I was just concerned. Speaking of. Have you eaten yet?"_

"Yes, I am," he answered. "_Otou-san_ and I went to _Belle's_."

"_Good. Nice choice. At least yo-"_ he heard garbled English coming from her line followed by her shouts in English.

"You should probably go," he told her when he knew she was back on.

_"__Yeah, I should…"_ she trailed off. _"You going to be okay? Be able to sleep soon? You have training tomorrow right?"_

"I do," he answered. "And yeah, I'll be able to sleep." _Now that I've been able to talk to you._ He was actually surprised about it too. Talking to her made him feel lighter, and he just now realized it, but the colors around him seemed more vivid as well, even the lights outside of his glass door when he answered his call.

_"__Okay!"_ she chirped. _"Go to bed then. You need to have all the energy for tomorrow. So sleep tight, get rested and good night. I love you bye!"_

Wait, what?

"Wait Aya-" he couldn't finish his sentence. The line was already beeping before he could even finish. He could move his phone away from his ear and stare at it dumbly.

Somehow, he was sure he wasn't going to get a good night's sleep.

End Chapter

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AN: oh aya, the things you do to misaki. i have no idea what came over me to write this. and its actually kind of all over the place. but here it is. misaki is dense, and dumb, and slow. he just needs to get his grip on. if only he realizes the irony of this chapter to what he's thinking (he thinks its not yet time for him, when really it is. he's just overly confused right now). and aya's not helping either. this story is a mess, they're a mess.

but yeah, here it is. this chapter. hope you all enjoyed it. thank you and please drop a review sometime.

see you soon!


	14. Just Wanna Be With You

AN: okay, don't judge. high school musical has great songs.

**guest-** thanks! i hope you enjoy this chapter too!

**HimeKanata- **aww i missed you too. im glad you finally caught up with the story and you enjoyed them :) lol, yeah misaki kind of knows what's going on with himself, but hes still trying to deny it. what are we going to do with you, misaki? anyway i hope you like this one as well, and thanks for reviewing

yeah i dont own captain tsubasa

* * *

Chapter 14: Just Wanna Be With You

She could be such a stupid idiot sometimes. Seriously, telling him "I love you" in a phone call when it was the first day they were even separated. How dumb could she get? She made it sound like she was desperate to be back with him.

…Which wasn't exactly a lie. Not that she was desperate to be with him or anything. It was just… weird being away from him for so long ever since they met. Sure they've been away from each other for some period of time. It's not like they spend they're whole day with each other. They have other things to do, thank you very much. But they always had time to spend together. Whether they be having morning breakfast, or late night dinner. As long as they spend a couple of minutes in proximity, they'll be good. At least she was. The day never was the same when she couldn't see him at least once.

God, she sounded like a lovesick fool. And they're not even dating. She hated acting like this. The sad part about this too, is that they haven't even known each other for a year and here she was, laying her heart open for his picking. This was totally unfair!

"What got your face in such a twist?"

Ayame blinked out of her reverie and turned around just to see her oldest sister. When did she get there? She clearly remembered her screaming for her to start getting ready upstairs in her room.

"Trouble in Paradise? Your boyfriend cheating on you?"

What the hell?

She jumped up from her seat on the couch, roaring in aggravation. "What? No! Where did you even-?"

Ayame knew she did the wrong thing when Shizuka's eyebrows rose before her lips morphed into a teasing smirk.

"So, it's true then? You are dating someone? That soccer player right? My, Aya, I didn't peg you to be one of those girls who dates someone like him."

She felt her face heat up and turned three more shades of red (if it wasn't already as red as a tomato) "I am not dating him!" She wished though, but her sister didn't need to know that.

"Are you?" Shizuka giggled. "From what I've been reading online, people are saying you guys are." Her sister was suddenly beside her, throwing an arm around her shoulders. "Don't be shy, _imouto_. You know you can tell you're _onee-san_ anything. I won't judge."

Ayame rolled her eyes and took off her sister's arm around her. She always hated it when Shizuka calls her little sister in Japanese, because she make it sound so demeaning. "I am _not_ dating Taro, okay. We're just really great friends, best friends even. Stop believing those stupid internet tabloids."

"I don't know Aya," she grinned cheekily. "Those pictures look really convincing."

She rolled her eyes again and crossed her arms. "You're seriously going to believe internet trolls than your own sister? I see how it is Shizuka. I see how it is. I thought you were supposed to be a genius."

"That's what they all say when they try to prove me wrong," Shizuka replied with a grin. "Then, they eat their words when life proves me right."

Ayame rolled her eyes once more. You know, she realized she's been doing that quite frequently now. Better stop before something permanent change her face. It was already bad enough to stand beside Shizuka, who's like the epitome of female beauty. She didn't need to look ugly as she already did.

"Whatever," she huffed and grabbed her purse from the coffee table. "Let's just go already. Mom and Dad are probably waiting. You know how Dad can get when he wants to eat at _Keiji's_. Besides, weren't you the one who was screaming at me to get my ass moving?"

Shizuka waltzed past her, a teasing smile on her face. "Well, I wasn't the one who was talking to her boy toy on her phone," she sang.

Ayame could only stifle her scream of frustration behind a couch pillow.

* * *

It was really nice to see her parents again, to be honest. Yeah, she did like living on her own in Paris, but she always did miss watching her mom and dad interact with each other. 25 years of marriage and they still act like newlyweds. No wait, scratch that. They act like newlyweds and an old married couple at the same time. The amount of time they teased each other and arguing over what to do never failed to impress her. Her and her sister had to ask the waiter to come back to them twice because her mom wanted to eat a non-_Hibachi _ grill food, while her dad was trying to convince her that that was a stupid idea because they were eating at the best _Hibachi_ restaurant in all of New York (his opinion by the way), why would she let the chance to pass eating steak here?

Mom only answered by saying she actually felt like eating her mother's homemade _poutine_*. Dad was clearly offended by her statement and didn't talk to mom for the whole time their chef was cooking for them. Ayame was even sure he was pouting. He only talked to her again when their mom offered him her green tea ice cream. He lit up like a Christmas tree and gave her cheek a huge smack of his lips.

Ugh, parents. One could never understand them.

"What's that sigh for?" she blinked out of her thoughts once she heard her father's voice. He was still here? Didn't they need to be at work in te- oh wait, she forgot its only 7:30. She was still feeling jet lagged so when she woke up at 7:15, she couldn't go back to sleep and just decided to go down in the kitchen to see what's there to eat. Her dad was already awake by that point, and she could faintly smell bacon wafting from their kitchen. Naturally her feet led her there.

You know what, why would she even think that her parents should have left? She hadn't even eaten breakfast yet and already want her parents to leave. What an ungrateful child she was.

"Aya? Yoo whoo? Still there, flower?" She blinked again this time, her dad waving the spatula in front of her face. She immediately retracted from it when she saw the oil coming from it.

"Dad!" she whined, "don't do that! You know how hot oil can be dangerous."

Shigeru Kiseki laughed and returned back to his cooking, flipping the egg that was toasting on the pan. "I wouldn't have done it if you weren't so out of it. Besides, if you didn't want to oil to hit you, you shouldn't have sat around the island where, in case you didn't notice, _ore no musume_*, is where the burners are."

Ayame huffed and put her cheek on her hand that rested on the island counter. "I've always sat here for breakfast and I'm not changing that now. I like eating here."

"I know you do," her dad said as he asked her to grab plates from the cupboard. She followed his orders with fake grudge, but just one roll of eyes from Shigeru, Ayame couldn't help but giggle.

"So, mind telling your old _Otou-chan_ what got you sighing like you're a senior citizen so early in the morning?" Her father brought again as they calmly ate their breakfast of eggs, bacon, hash browns, and toast (white because she didn't care about eating healthy right now).

"Nothing," she answered before taking a bite out of her buttered toast. Although she didn't have anything against Taro, but it was nice eating breakfast that she didn't cook. But then again, her dad just has a way with oils and pans that never failed to bring out the sinful goodness of bacon and potatoes.

Shigeru chuckled and ate a piece of his egg. "Really, now?"

She hummed in confirmation, turning on the small TV they had in the kitchen. Without her notice, she turned it to the channel that showed soccer leagues abroad, which coincidentally was showing a commercial of _Ligue 1_. Of course, she couldn't help the smile to form on her face as it showed a close-up of her neighbor as he celebrates a goal.

She also failed to notice the curious look on her father's face while he stared at her from across the kitchen island.

"Since when did you start like watching men's soccer?" Her dad "nonchalantly" asked as he bit into his bacon. Ayame turned her eyes away from the TV to look at her father, tilting her head to the side in question. "From what I remember, you detested them. You said that they were 'a bunch of sissies and liars for trying to fake injuries to get penalties.'"

O-oh shit, yeah that happened. Even if she did play soccer when she was younger, most of her idols were the women players (for the record, she still adored them), and she did roll her eyes whenever Men's World Cup Season came. She also barely watched any soccer at all when she was growing up because one: she was busy with school; she was an overachiever through and through, and two: she just wasn't interested about it. The only soccer related events she really did are little league soccer, travel soccer in middle school, and varsity soccer in high school which she eventually gave up when she hit senior year. It was great for college applications. And maybe she watched a little bit of the Women's World Cup when she had time.

The only reason she did know about PSG was because she wanted to follow conversations in France. And she just had the necessary information to get by.

It all changed when she found a certain player knocked out in front of his apartment with a sad expression on his face.

When she finally knew more about him, she couldn't help but tune in to the sports channel, trying to figure out why he was so different on the field but so sorrowful out of it. Soon, she decided that she wanted to see that smile on him always.

She just didn't expect for her to fall in love with him.

"Just recently," she answered vaguely while sipping the cup of hot chocolate she made. "You know those Europeans, soccer is life." She turned away from her dad, going back to the TV as it showed a recap of a _Serie A_ game. "Gotta keep up with them somehow."

Her dad made a short hum as he took a drink from his mug of coffee. "Is that so?"

Ayame mindlessly nodded, engrossed in watching the show, who was now showing a preview of the friendly game between PSG and Arsenal. They were going to livestream it at 10 in the morning New York time. Hmm, maybe she should just stay for the morning and watch. It should be just around lunch time when it ends. She could leave and galavant through SoHo* in the afternoon.

"Are you sure it's not because of a boy?"

Caught off guard by her father's sudden teasing remark, Ayame, who was in the middle of taking another sip, suddenly choked on her drink and almost dropped her cup on the floor. Thank god she could function on instinct and set the cup on the counter before hacking up her lungs like she's dying.

Shigeru, despite his amusement from his daughter's reaction, quickly handed her a glass of water to save her from coughing up her lung. Ayame gratefully took the offered glass and gulped it all done in three seconds flat.

"What the heck, Dad!" she panted, saved from her unexpected choking. "Were you trying to kill me?"

"That was a perfectly sound question, you know," Shigeru argued as he cleaned up his dishes. "You're reaction to it was all you."

"But come on! You're acting like I'm still a teenager," she countered. "Because of a boy? Really?" It was sort of true… but he didn't need to know that.

"So is it?"

Ayame flushed, "What? No! Of course it's not because of a boy!"

"Uh huh," Shigeru snorted. "I'm your father. I can tell when you're not telling the truth."

She bristled in her seat. "Are you calling me a liar?"

"I don't know, are you?"

Ayameg growled in frustration and laid her head on the cold counter, annoyed by her father's ability to twist her words. In reply to her aggravation, the male Kiseki only laughed at her.

"You know, you don't really have to tell me anything," Shigeru told her as he started to clean up her dishes. "I just like teasing my daughters." He wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close like a father did to his daughters. Ayame sighed and leaned into his warmth. She'd die first before admitting it, but she missed cuddling with her dad. Now if only her home was here, then it'd be like when she was young and the Kiseki family will have their cuddle party.

"Although, I am kind of curious if you did find someone in Paris…" he remarked while putting her dishes in the sink. "It has been awhile since you were in a relationship. Maybe you have another boyfriend now? Don't forget to introduce him to us, okay?"

"Dad, seriously!"

End Chapter

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AN: so aya's thoughts. at least we established something. although we dont know if she's going to confess soon. who knows. will she even confess? or will she just shrug this off? she seems to be pretty smitten to me in my opinion. lol also i love writing families. it makes it seem like we're actually reading about a real person (at least in my opinion)

but, yeah hopefully you liked how this chapter went. this is only the second time we got into aya's pov, imagine that. hopefully, you guys enjoyed it (you can be honest, its fine if you dont like it).

thanks for reading and please review!


	15. One More Problem With You

AN: yeah this took awhile but here you go

**HimeKanata-**im glad you're happy when _WDUSAMT_ updates. its nice to read that you really enjoy reading this. yeah, last chapter was short, but hopefully this makes up for it. anyway, thanks for reading and reviewing

yeah i dont own captain tsubasa

* * *

Chapter 15: One More Problem With You

He was bored, there was no other way to say it. Times like this was when he started to realized how uneventful life was without his neighbor around. He could have spent his time with his dad, except he already left five days ago and Ayame's only been gone for a week and he was just so bored!

Yes, he did have training to go to almost every day, but that's just in the mornings. There was nothing to do in the afternoon, usually he'd eat somewhere with Ayame or they'd just stay at home to watch a movie or something. But now, there's nothing. He couldn't sit still long enough to watch whatever was on TV. But somehow, whenever Ayame's beside him, or even curled up against him, he could sit through at least three Disney movies or whatever she felt like watching. It's so absurd! He wasn't even like this when he was with Azumi!

He slumped deeper into his couch and gave out a sigh. He just wanted to do something really. Sure he went to training, but it was just in the morning. He was usually home by 2 pm, lunch included. And if Ayame was home, she'd force him to go out with him, whether it'd be just a walk to the park or grab some coffee with her. Sometimes, they'd stay at home and just watch whatever she felt like watching.

Now, he was just sitting on his couch trying to think of something to do.

He could have called Napoleon or any of his teammates, ask if they want to do something, but they were all busy with their own lives. Especially Napoleon. He's been spending most of his time with Marie, saying that he was making up for lost time since once the term starts, he wouldn't get as much time hanging out with her.

Taro wanted to point out that she literally lived right next door to her. Like a whole bedroom away. They were roommates. Honestly, with how clingy he was to his childhood friend, he would have thought they were dating. How did he even manage to live without her for a year?

He sighed once and turned on his TV. What was there to watch anyway? He wasn't particularly fond of just staying still (unless, you know, Ayame's there to glue him on the couch), but desperate times call for desperate measures.

He was mindlessly browsing through the channels when he suddenly heard his phone ring that one chipper Disney song.

Ayame? What did she need him for? It's what, 10 in the morning in New York?

Well, at least he had something to kill time now.

Swiping his phone, he quickly brought it up to his ear and answered her.

"Hey," he greeted her and he thought he could hear her in the middle of chewing something. "What's up?"

He heard her gulp down (he was right, she was eating something) before she answered.

_"__Hey, hotshot,"_ she replied. "_Sorry, I'm eating breakfast in Brooklyn. I didn't expect you to answer that quickly."_

"I wasn't particularly doing anything," he shrugged as he changed channels once more. "So here I am. Anyway, did you need something?"

She got done chewing again. _"Not really,"_ she said. _"I just wanted to talk to you."_

Taro felt his cheeks heat up. Jesus Christ, this girl should really think about what she's going to say before telling him anything.

_"__I miss you,"_ she added quietly.

He felt his eyes softened and he tightened his hold on his phone. He missed her too, badly. At first he didn't want to admit it, but he realized that life wasn't the same without her beside him.

"I miss you too," he confessed. He heard her take a deep breath from the other line before it got quiet between the two of them. She wasn't even eating. The silence lasted for quite some time, until she cleared her throat and began to eat again.

_"__So anyway,"_ she said between chews. _"I have to find a dress for tonight cause apparently I have a party to go to tonight."_

"Another dress," he raised an eyebrow. "Don't you have enough dresses? Can't you just pick from one of them?"

_"__There is no such thing as enough dresses!"_ she scoffed. _"Come on hotshot, it's me. Do you really think I would pass up this chance to buy another dress, maybe five more."_

He chuckled at her reply. Of course, why did he even suggest that?

"Good point," he smiled.

He heard her sigh deeply from the other line. _"I wish I could bring you with me. Make use of you like you make use of me."_

Taro rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Hey, you're the one who always volunteered. It's not like I'm forcing you to go with me. Why do you want to bring me anyway?" There was a sudden surge of pride in him when he realized that she wanted to bring him as a date, but he ignored the thought away.

_"__It's mostly a business party that my parents were invited to. Naturally as their child I'm obligated to go. I hate it though,"_ she explained. _"Business politics and all that shizazz. It's full of people trying to gain more money through all means possible. They'd probably want to 'introduce' their sons to Shizuka and me. You know, to 'strengthen' the bonds between our companies or whatever shit they make up. Of course, our parents wouldn't force us to marry someone we don't love, but those business owners still shove their children down our throats it's choking. It also doesn't help that I went to the same school as most of them."_

He was used to her ranting; almost everything she had something to talk about whenever they're together, but somehow this one interested him more than he was willing to admit. He didn't know business politics was that… greedy.

_"__At least, when you pose as my boyfriend, they could back off a little bit,"_ she remarked off handedly.

Maybe if he actually went as her boyfriend, they're going to back off for good.

Wait, what?

_"__But enough about me,"_ she cleared her throat. _"What about you? How's our superstar doing? I saw the friendly with Arsenal a few days ago on TV. Great job by the way. I didn't expect you to be able to make that free kick into a goal."_

He smiled as he remembered the shot she was talking about. They were given a free kick about 75 feet away from Arsenal's goal, and since Lindström was still in Sweden on vacation, the team decided to give it to him. At first, he didn't think he could do it. He didn't have the same abilities Tsubasa had that could definitely put the ball behind the goal but he thought of what she would say to him, of the weird way she'll word her encouragement.

_Just do it hotshot, what do you have to lose? If you miss then you miss, you're going to find a way to make up that missed shot. If you get it, then you get it. It's not that hard._

He remembered smiling as he thought of what she would have said. And keeping that in mind, he ran up to the ball and shot.

Just his luck, the ball found its way at the back of the net.

Taro browsed through the channels once more. "Lucky shot," he shrugged nonchalantly, deciding not to tell her that it was her that made it possible for him to get that goal.

He heard her snort from the other line.

_"__Yeah right,"_ she said. _"That was all you, of course. You won't be able to convince me that was all luck. We both know what you can do, Taro; the whole world knows what you can do. _I_ know what you can do. Don't sell yourself short. There's more to you than what you think you're capable of. Just believe in yourself, because I believe in you."_

He felt his eyes soften. Expect her to make him feel like he could take on the world with just a few simple words.

He clutched his phone tighter and sighed through his nose.

"How come you always know what to say to make me feel better?"

He heard her laugh, something he didn't know he was actually missing until he heard it again.

_"__It comes with the job,"_ she answered with a soft giggle. She cleared her throat and he faintly heard shuffling coming from her end. _"I gotta get a move on hotshot."_

What already? Don't go yet! This was his only way to waste time.

_"__That dress just won't magically appear before me," _she added, _"Plus I have to do my hair and makeup too."_

Who cares about that stupid party? She didn't even want to go there anyway.

_"__So I'll talk to you later?"_ her voice resounded from the other line.

He heard himself sigh softly. "Yeah. I- yeah."

_"__Sweet! It was nice talking to you. I'll see you soon, okay?"_

Telling her goodbye, Taro heard the line ending and he took off his phone away from his ear with a sigh. He locked his phone but not before staring at the date as the screen slowly faded to black.

Just two more weeks, two more weeks and she's back.

* * *

She wasn't lying when she said she hated these parties. She thought when she went to college she'd be able to at least escape from these "negotiations" and live a somewhat normal life. For the most part she did. Her two years at U of M and being abroad made it feel like she was a regular college kid trying to pursue her dreams, but then she remembered returning here every break just to be thrown into this world all over again. Plus, all these sleazy old men shoving their sons to her and Shizuka was not making things better. Sometimes they were even trying to hit on her! Like, no thank you. They were far too old for her taste.

Ayame wished she was back in Paris, watching _Lilo and Stitch_ with Taro. At least, she'd be in comfortable and doing something she liked, not stuck in here watching all these people pretend to like each other.

She took a sip of her wine as she observed the room. Renting the _Plaza Hotel's_ grand ballroom, naturally it was fancy, and everything looked expensive. She didn't even know what they were celebrating. The birthday of a businessman's wife?

"You don't look happy," She heard her sister remark. Ayame turned to look beside her just to see Shizuka with a corner of lips quirked in amusement. "Missing your boyfriend? Wish you were with him instead?"

Well, yes. It was better than being stuck here and staring as everyone tried to one up each other. But more importantly, why the boyfriend thing again?

"He's not my boyfriend," she rolled her eyes. And he was never going to be. Sure, Taro might have started letting go of his ex, but that didn't mean he was starting to develop feelings for her. Besides, who knows, there's bound to be some girl who's going to sweep him off his feet in a way that she couldn't - wouldn't be to do.

Although the whole moment this morning was making her feel a little bit of hope.

No, she thought to herself. That wasn't going to happen ever. Erase those thoughts, Aya. You're just going to hurt yourself.

"Not yet," Shizuka sang as she took a flute of red wine from a waiter. Ayame only rolled her eyes once more, ignoring her sister. It was better to leave her sister alone with her stupid thoughts because once she had her mind set to it, Shizuka wouldn't forget about it.

"Don't worry, my dear _imouto_, you'll be with him soon. You just gotta keep these little leeches from latching onto you," Shizuka winked at him.

If it was socially accepted and not really a bad thing to do, Ayame would have thrown her four inch stilettos at her.

Her sister only laughed as she gave her the deadliest glare Ayame could ever give.

"How come I'm the only one they're trying to latch onto anyway," Ayame changed the subject, tried of Shizuka's incessant teasing. "Why can't they do it to you too?"

That managed to shut her sister up, and somehow Ayame felt worse instead of better.

"Well," Shizuka softened her eyes as she played with her drink, staring as it swished around in her glass. "In case you forgot, I'm technically already unavailable. The Atobe family is waiting for me to get my Master's degree before I join their family."

Right, if things weren't already as bad enough here with business politics, it just so happened that their grandfather was also a rich businessman in Japan, and already had talked about plans with some other prominent rich families in Japan. Because of that, Shizuka was asked to spend her middle school and high school in Japan, in hopes of getting the heir of this Atobe family and her sister closer. It seemed to have worked, because Shizuka willingly accepted this "engagement" after three years. It's almost as if she was in love with him.

The guy on the other hand, was a whole other story.

"And not to mention, Ayu's in Seattle now, meaning she's unaccounted for. Besides, I don't think Dad and especially Mom would put Ayu in that kind of position," Shizuka gulped the rest of her drink down. "The last thing we want is to have her back in the hospital."

Ayame would die first before she'd let her twin sister go back there.

"So yeah," her sister quipped. "You're the technically the only Kiseki available, both in Japan and America since Sanae's already married to her soccer stud, and that's why your so sought after."

Then a mischievous grin formed on Shizuka's lips.

"Unless," she sang, "You know, you married your 'hotshot', maybe they'd back off permanently."

Ayame flushed red and looked at her with an irritated scowl, stuttering her words. Her? Married to Taro? Absurd! She's not going to deny the idea sounded really nice, but no! That's not going to happen, ever.

Shizuka only laughed once more before sashaying away from her.

Ayame huffed as she turned away from her sister's figure and set her glass on the table, crossing her arms while leaning to the back of the chair. As much as she loved her sister, she could really aggravate her sometimes. She was kind of glad she left her alone to brood in silence. Sometimes, she really wished she had friends in New York that she kept in touch with, preferably someone normal and not a spoiled rich kid like her and everyone in here so she could party somewhere that didn't judge people based on how luxurious life would be. That's why she loved spending time with Marie and Claudette. They were so down to Earth. She felt like she was normal for once. Not to mention some of her friends at fashion school didn't care whether she was Rachel Leblanc's daughter, she got in because of her talent (whatever it is. Honestly, she didn't know what kind of talent they were talking about) and treated her as someone who just wanted to achieve their dreams. Paris gave her what she always wished for, a normal life, and she didn't want to leave it.

And most of all, that's where she met Taro.

She took her glass from the table and started twirling the wine in it, staring at it blankly. How she wished she could just grab her phone and text Taro or Sanae or anyone, but sadly they all live where it's already about two in the morning since there's a six hour difference between New York and where they're at. Besides, Taro and Tsubasa was going to be playing a friendly again tomorrow, she shouldn't disturb their sleep. They need all the rest they could get.

"Iris?"

She looked up from her glass, trying to find who called her name. She turned everywhere before landing on who exactly it was that said her name. Unconsciously, she stilled and let her mouth drop.

He quickly walked towards her as she stood up without her notice, setting the glass back on the table. He had a big grin on his face and Ayame felt like bolting away from him. But before she could move, he was already wrapping his arms around her for a hug, and her own hesitantly hugging him back.

After four years, she was still hurt from what Dominic did to her.

"I- It's nice to see you again," he said, a gentle look on his eyes, separating from her. Ayame was confused, not to mention uncomfortable. Why was he staring at her like that?

"Y-you too," she mumbled with a shaky smile. Both of them took a seat, and Ayame didn't fail to notice the way he moved his seat closer to her.

Both of them eased into making small talks, asking each other how they were, what they've been doing for the last couple of years. Even if they seemed to be having a comfortable conversation, like old friends catching up, but Ayame was far from comfortable. The more time she spent with him, the more her heart throbbed in pain.

She guessed that's how it went when you're talking to an ex-boyfriend who broke your heart, who left you even before he officially decided to leave.

"So Paris huh?" He remarked. "You're finally getting your dream."

Ayame gave an unsure smile. "I guess…"

"I'm glad," he replied, softening his gaze again. Ayame could feel herself taking a deep breath, looking away from him to stare at her flute of wine.

He was always been of supportive of her pursuing her dreams as a fashion designer. She remembered telling it to him when he saw her sketches back when they first started dating their junior year. At that time she was thinking about just taking architecture like what her mom wanted. Her mom believed she didn't have the hand for making clothes like Ayu did. Ayu's been making costumes since they were little after all. Ayame was just in the process of discovering her love for art and clothes when Ayu designed and created her own princess dress. At that moment, their mom was grooming her to take fashion design and hopefully the company as well, completely ignoring the blooming talent of her other daughter.

When Ayame finally made her first outfit, it was already too late. Her mother was too absorbed about her first daughter that had a talent to be a model, and her youngest daughter whose hands were just perfect for designing clothes. Ayame knew her mother loved her dearly, but it still hurt seeing the disappointed look her mom threw her when she was young. So Rachel settled for architecture, at least it was still art related.

Ayame wanted so badly to tell her mom how she wanted to be a fashion designer like her, to show her that she could do it, but her mother was so convinced that she wouldn't be able to be one and told her it was fine, she didn't need to make her happy. Ayame could chose whatever career she wanted, completely oblivious to Ayame's want for her to see that designing was all she ever wanted.

But she gave up trying to convince her, and accepted just doing architecture like they expected. If her parents couldn't even believe that she could be a fashion designer, then what was the point?

When Dominic told him to pursue her dreams, that he believed that she could be a fashion designer, was the moment she knew she liked him, maybe even more. She didn't know if it was love, but looking back at it now, it probably was.

That's why when she found out he was cheating on her for more than six months, it hurt. To make it worse, she found out right after she did it with him for the very first time, laying her heart and soul open for him.

There was another reason why she went to Michigan instead of going to any Ivy League* like most of the people in her class. Michigan helped her forget, and maybe when she moved to Paris, she was starting to forgive.

But seeing him again tonight, made her realize that she still couldn't forgive him, nor was she ready to.

"You know," she heard him start. Ayame looked back at him, noticing the way he played with his own drink. "I- I never got to apologize. You know, the whole thing after Prom*."

Ayame clenched her hands into fists on her lap. Not now please. She didn't want to deal with this.

"You wouldn't let me," he added softly. Dominic turned to her, a tender look on his face. "What I did was fucking terrible, and I admit I was wrong to do it, especially to you."

She took a deep breath, opening her mouth to tell him to stop but he beat her to it.

"You were- you were the perfect girlfriend," he said, and Ayame desperately wished that someone stopped him. "You were kind, always there whenever I needed you, and also left me alone when I needed to. You were there beside me whenever I needed your support, there when I thought I couldn't do it but believed in me anyway. You were always there, loving me for all that I am."

Ayame blinked the tears away. She didn't want to hear all of these. She didn't need a reminder of all the things that happened between them, of what they could have been, especially by him.

"And I reciprocated by cheating on you," he chuckled humorlessly, taking a drink from his glass. Ayame discreetly wiped a tear from her cheek. Please, just let him leave. It's bad enough that she was falling in love with a person who wouldn't love her back, don't make her fall for her ex all over again.

"I'm such an asshole aren't I?" he asked.

Ayame looked down to her hands in her lap. He was, but it didn't matter to her anymore. She just wanted him to disappear from her life.

"No, Dom," she said, slipping into his nickname that she used to call her. She was the only one that he let to call him that. "It's- it's okay. I'm over it. It's already in the pa-"

"It's not okay," he interrupted gently. She whipped her head to him, her eyes wide. "And I'm not over it. I'll never be over it." He took a deep breath as he looked down. "You were in love with me Iris. I knew you were. I could see it. And I ignored it, because I was trying to ignore that I felt the same too. I started sleeping around because I refused to acknowledge that I was in love with you. I thought I was too young, that I can't be chained to one person when I still have a whole life before me."

Was that she was all to him? A chain that was only going to hold him back.

"But when I saw your face when you found out about everything, when I saw you trying to hold back the tears while asking me whether what Megan told you was true, was when I realized what an asshole I was for playing with your feelings."

Too late for that.

"That's when I knew that I couldn't deny my feelings for you anymore," he finished softly. "Even after four years. I'm still in love with you.

Ayame didn't know what to say, didn't know what to do. Maybe four years ago, she would have forgiven him and tell him she still loved him with all her heart, but she wasn't Ayame four years ago, and her heart was starting to beat for another person.

"I know you can't forgive me easily," he said. "I don't expect you too."

He then reached for her hand, and Ayame was too still to yank it away. "I just want to ask you to give me another chance, to let me show you how I'm willing to do anything to ask for your forgiveness, and let me back into your heart."

He started caressing her hand with his thumb, and Ayame could only stare at it.

"I'm going to Paris soon," he told her, still stroking her hand. She looked up to him with wide eyes, surprised by what he said. "Dad's opening a branch there and he wanted me to manage it. At first I was going to refuse, but when I found out that you were there, I immediately accepted. I hoped that I would see you there, to apologize and maybe get back together."

There was another gentle smile on his face, and Ayame felt like she was suffocating.

"But I know its not going to be easy, and I'm prepared for it," he said, taking both of her hands in his. He looked to her, a determined but soft look in his eyes. "So please, will you let me prove to you how sorry I am? To show how much I want you back in my life?"

Did she want him back in her life? Was she ready to forgive all his done?

"I-" she stuttered, but she was happy when she heard Shizuka's voice interrupting her.

"We're going Aya, let's go."

Ayame nodded shakily and took her hands away from him. "I- I gotta go, Dominic," she said while frantically getting her stuff together. "I-I'll see you sometime. Good night."

She didn't let him finish, and immediately left the area to walk to where her sister was waiting for her. She didn't look back, not wanting to see how he looked as she left him.

If she did, she would have seen the longing look on his face.

End Chapter

* * *

AN: so what do you think? about taro? about aya? about dominic? lol, i didnt plan anything with dominic tbh, he just appeared one day in my mind and boom he was there. now, i have big plans with him and how he's going to affect everything between our two dorks. tell me what you think

title was inspired by Ariana Grande's _Problem_. The lyrics goes "One less problem without you." but i changed it to "One more problem with you"

*Ivy League- 8 of the top schools is America, if not _the_ top schools (i would like to say other wise. u of m and stanford and mit and other schools are as great as them, maybe even better but whatever) that is not only very competitive, but also very expensive. most of its students are either scholarship kids or rich kids, or smart kids (technically scholarship kids). includes: YALE, HARVARD, PRINCETON, DARTMOUTH, COLUMBIA, CORNELL, AND UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. since aya is considered a rich and smart kid, i figured she easily had a choice between those colleges and more. but she ultimately chose U of M and Paris.

*Prom- this one dance usually in high school for juniors and seniors. its like the last hurrah for them before they either leave high school (its usually a few weeks after graduation) or preparing for the last weeks of school. its kind of a big deal here lol.

but yeah, that's it for today. hopefully you guys liked it.

thanks for reading and please review


	16. If Only

AN: happy valentine's day

**Guest- **hear you go i guess...

yeah i dont own captain tsubasa

* * *

Chapter 16: If Only

The world just hated her, she was sure. At first, she thought it didn't because she didn't get to see Dominic for the whole two weeks before her departure and be finally back to Paris. Even if he said he was going to be in Paris, she was confident they wouldn't be bumping into each other soon. Paris was huge. He wouldn't be able to find her that easily.

But no the world just loved fucking with her.

Dominic was riding the same flight, same time, same airplane, and to make it worse, seated right beside her. Ayame was sure her mother had something to do with this. It's no secret Dominic's mom and hers were great friends, and she knew she was one of the people at fault. Her mother and Mrs. Landon became friends because Ayame and Dominic started dating, and even when they broke up, they continued to be buddies. They've always hoped that they'd marry someday. Besides, they never knew what exactly made them break up. Ayame refused to tell them, for both of their sakes, especially Dominic's.

But for the love of all things fashion, would they quit trying to get them back together? Ayame didn't plan on getting back with him anytime at all, no matter how Dominic tried to make her forgive him. She'd be fine with being friends at least, but being together again? That's never going to happen.

At least, that's what she hoped.

Dominic giving him that one smile that apparently still made her heart beat fast made her believe otherwise. And could he stop touching her? Yes, it felt nice but unwelcome. Sort of, maybe, she didn't know!

She needed to get away from him, and fast.

"Are you sure you'll be fine going home by this time?" Dominic asked her. The concern in his voice was really sweet, but Ayame vowed to herself that she wasn't going to fall for it. "It's pretty late."

She took a glance at the car waiting for him, his dad made sure he had a valet ready to pick him up and drop him off at his condo. Ayame refrained from snorting. Typical rich family. She was so glad her parents didn't do that to her when she first arrived in Paris.

"I could give you a ride to your apartment, I don't mind," he continued, his eyebrows knitted together in concern.

Damn it, Dominic don't do that.

She gave him a small smile. "I'm okay," she answered. "My friend's picking me up. He should be here soon." She wasn't lying. Taro said he was going to pick her up but she was getting a little bit annoyed that she couldn't see his hot ass anywhere. Normally, she'd be okay with it, but when she's waiting beside her equally attractive ex-boyfriend who was trying to win her back and making her confused, she'd rather go home and sleep everything off.

She looked down the driveway once more, and felt her lips curl up into an excited smile.

"There he is!" she exclaimed excitedly, leaving Dominic confused. He became even more puzzled when a familiar white Porsche stopped right in front of them and Ayame started fidgeting waiting for Taro to get out of his car.

Taro opened his door to get out and immediately searched for her, his mouth forming a grin when he saw her immediately.

Ayame released a deep breath. She was only gone from him for three weeks but was it just her or did he become more attractive? Who cares! He was here and god, she didn't realize how much she missed him.

"Taro!" she called out and ran to him, while he quickened his pace to meet her halfway. When she was quite near him, she immediately jumped onto him, wrapping her arms around his neck while burying her face on his neck. She barely felt his own arms circling her waist, pulling her tightly against him as he hid his own face on her shoulder, exhaling contentedly as he savored her warmth. She was too busy smelling his familiar scent that was just so- so him. It smelled like she was home once more.

He was her home.

She heard him chuckle and set her down on the ground, squeezing her one last time before putting some space between them.

"You seem to be excited to be home," he remarked with a teasing smirk.

"You have no idea," she replied, separating from him. "Those three weeks couldn't have gone any faster."

Looking away from him, Ayame turned walk back to Dominic and grabbed her suitcase, a happy smile on her face. Though, it did falter a little bit once they were facing each other once more.

"Thanks for waiting with me," she said sincerely, not noticing the way Dominic's cheeks turned pink. "I really appreciate it." She pulled her suitcase with her as she started to walk back towards Taro's car, his trunk already open for her stuff. "I- I'll see you around Dominic."

As she went to where her best friend was, she failed to notice the stare both boys gave each other.

Once they got Ayame's suitcase in the trunk, Ayame and Taro got into his car and drove off towards their home.

If only Ayame looked back, he would have seen the way Dominic's hand gripping his own suitcase tightly.

* * *

The drive back home was surprisingly silent, Taro noticed. Right when they got into the car, Ayame had been quiet, opting to look out the window. The light from his touchscreen was the only thing that showed him her solemn expression, her face devoid of any smile or spark that was usually in her eyes. It was making him a little uneasily. The song floating from his speakers weren't helping matters either, even when it was playing a soft jazz music.

Sure he could just blame it on fatigue, but Ayame wasn't easily fatigued, besides when she's tired she talked a lot more than she usually did.

He glanced towards her from the corner of his eye, careful to still keep his eyes on the road. He didn't know what exactly made her be this quiet. After all, when they first saw each other, she was so excited, her eyes lighting and her smile could have made the night turn into day from how bright it was. She even leaped at him, almost throwing them off balance. It was a good thing he steadied both of them, even if he was as excited as she was to finally see her again.

That all disappeared when she turned back to look at the guy by her suitcase. He noticed her smile falter as she walked to grab her suitcase. The man had this one look at her, he couldn't exactly describe it, but when Ayame turned away from him, Taro could finally figure it out.

It was longing, a painful longing that he'd seen on himself so many times for the last couple of months. It was almost like- like looking at a mirror.

The guy then looked at him, observing him as Taro only gave another stare back. They were only interrupted when Ayame called to him, asking him to open his trunk so she could put her suitcase in. He immediately obliged, taking her stuff as he told her to get in the car, he'd take care of it. Just as he got into his car, Taro caught a glimpse of the same longing look on his face, all directed to Ayame.

Somehow, the way he looked at her didn't bode well with him. And somehow, he knew that it was this guy that was making Ayame the way she was right now.

The various buildings of Paris loomed above them as they finally reached the city, and Taro finally heard some kind of movement from his companion. Taking advantage of a red light, he turned to look at her just to see her rummaging through her bag, looking for something.

After a few moments, her phone appeared in her hand, lighting up to notify her of a message. She stared at it for a while before sighing and putting it back into her bag.

That was unnatural. Usually she answers it right away, typing away as if life depended on how fast she could answer the person. That was the point that Taro realized that something was wrong with his best friend.

As the light turned green, he asked, "You okay?"

He heard her sigh again before she answered dejectedly. "I don't know," she breathed out.

He didn't her to answer honestly. He thought she was going to deny something was wrong and he was sure he had to probe it out of her. He didn't think he'd admit it easily.

"Something wrong?" he said softly, still focusing on the road.

"I-," she opened her mouth, "I don't exactly know how to say it." She clasped her hands together on her lap. She licked her bottom lip, looking out the window once more. "You'd think it's very stupid. I think it's stupid."

Taro took one of his hand away from the steering wheel, laying it unconsciously on her own as he kept his eyes on the road. Ayame looked at him with wide eyes, surprise etched on her face.

"You know you can tell me anything," he said, "We're friends after all."

With his eyes still on the road before them, he didn't see the way Ayame's lips curve into a defeated smile.

"Don't worry about it," she said, taking her hands away from his and pushed a strand of her hair from her face with one. "It's just a guy who wouldn't leave me alone. If I ignored him enough he should be gone soon."

If Taro guessed right, then he was sure that guy wouldn't be leaving her anytime soon.

"Really, it's stupid," she repeated as she started fidgeting with the touchscreen. Before he knew it, a soft French jazz song came from the car's speakers. They hit another red light, and Taro took this chance to turn towards her just in time to see her look out the window, leaning her head against it.

"Don't think too much about it," she said softly.

If only he could.

End Chapter


	17. Won't Say

Chapter 17: Won't Say

When he entered through her apartment that morning, the smell of bacon was the first thing that greeted him. She was already awake apparently. He thought he needed to be quiet to grab himself a cup of coffee. Ever since she gave him a copy of her apartment key so he could watch over her apartment while she was gone, he took this chance to drink her coffee. He'd always liked the brand she bought, and she said she didn't mind, as long as he went grocery shopping with her. After all, he basically eats her food anyway.

He went into the kitchen and sure enough, Ayame was up standing in front of the stove in her pajama shorts and tank top, a spatula in her hand as a stack of pancakes was placed on a counter beside her.

"You're up early," he remarked as he walked towards her coffee maker. He opened her cupboard, searching for the container that held the coffee.

"I woke up super early today, and I couldn't go back to sleep," she answered, taking the pancake off the pan and put it on the stack. "So I just decided to make breakfast. Pancakes?" she turned towards him, offering the plate to him. He gave her a grin, taking it from her and set it on the table, catching a quick glimpse of the plates of bacon and eggs as well. Ayame smiled back as she started cleaning up. He went to her other cupboards, searching for other plates and silverware to set on the table.

"There should be some syrup inside the fridge," she said, wiping the stove and countertops. He went to her fridge to search for the aforementioned condiment. "Though, you might want to check the date on that one. I don't if it's still good or not." Finally spotting the bottle of syrup, Taro quickly tried to find the expiration date.

"It's still good," he said, reading that it wouldn't turn bad until a few more months. He also grabbed a bottle of orange juice he found and laid both bottles on the table. He took a seat just as Ayame set two glasses down and grabbing a seat across from him.

A few moments after, they started eating. They began to chat between the two of them, asking each other mundane things, small things. It felt so… normal, as if they weren't away from each other for three weeks.

As if what they talked about last night didn't happen at all.

"So what are you doing today?" he asked, finishing his second pancake. He didn't want to eat a lot that morning. Even if they were just going to have a light workout, he didn't want to take a chance that something bad might happen.

"I have to go to school to ask something about the internship I have to do this year," she answered before biting a piece of the bacon. "I don't have anything to do after that though. I might just go home."

"Marie wanted to ask if we wanted to eat lunch with them," he said as he read a text Napoleon just sent him. Apparently Marie was excited to see Ayame again.

"With them?" She asked, her fork in her mouth as she had eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

"Yeah," he said. "Her and Luis."

"Oh," she said, taking the fork out of her mouth. "Sure," she answered as she took a sip of her orange juice. "Where at? I can just meet you guys there."

"I'll just pick you up," he answered as he googled the address of restaurant Napoleon just texted him. It was quite far from where her school is so it was better for him to pick her up.

"You sure?" she asked as she stood up to pick up the dishes. "I'm fine taking a taxi or the subway. I don't want to bother you more than I already do."

"Its fine," he said, helping her up. "And you know it doesn't bother me." He didn't feel comfortable with the thought of her walking alone for some reason. Even though, she had been doing it since before they even met.

He took their glasses from their table and put it in the sink, standing beside her. Ayame gave her a look, and he returned it. They stared at each other for quite some time before she smiled and started the dishes.

"Okay, hotshot," she said as she turned on the sink. "Whatever you say."

He returned her smile and poked her side, making her jump. He started to tease her that she wanted him to pick her up anyway, to which she vehemently denied. She tried kicking him in return, but his fast reflexes was more than enough for him to avoid it. He retaliated by tickling her again.

"Quit bothering me!" she whined, her arms covered with soap suds as she pouted. "I'm not going to be able to finish this if you won't stop tickling me! I still have to take a shower too."

"It's not my fault you take long showers," he teased, playing with a lock of her hair. He should be leaving soon if he didn't want to be late for training, but for some reason, he didn't want to leave yet.

"Hey, hey," she warned, taking her hair in her hands, clean of soap, and petted it softly. "My hair wouldn't be as fabulous as it is without the amount of care I put on it. Don't diss on the shower time. Besides, don't you have to be at training soon? Shouldn't you get going?"

"Fine," he sighed dramatically. "I can see when I'm not wanted."

Immediately, Ayame's posture softened and flailed her arms frantically. "That's not true!" she said, panicked. "Of course, I want you to be here with me! I just-"

He couldn't help the grin to form on his face. Why was it so fun to tease her?

"I'm kidding," he interrupted her ramblings with chuckles. "I'm just messing with you."

She stared at him in disbelief before her eyes narrowed.

That's his queue to leave before she explodes.

"So I'll pick you up at 11:30!" he said before she could even say anything. "I'll see you later." Without realizing it, he leaned in towards her and dropped a kiss on her cheek before dashing out of her apartment.

The last thing he heard was her distress call of his name as he laughed in joy.

* * *

He only realized his slip up right when he got out of the training center, driving to where he was supposed to pick up Ayame. Training went well today, at least for him anyway. He didn't know why but he came in such a good mood, roaring to get on the field and put some shots behind the net. When they started having practice matches, he was basically dominating the field. Some even said that if they were doing a real match against a team, he alone could have defeated them. They were exaggerating for sure, but it was flattering to hear they think he could take on a team alone with how he played today. Even Coach Roux complimented his play today.

His teammates began wondering what made him like that, surely something must have happened that put him in such a good mood to destroy the reserve team. Some of them began teasing him, asking him if he got laid last night or did he eat something this morning (whoever he got laid with, they winked), and if so give them some to try. Rolling his eyes, Taro answered honestly that he just ate Ayame's pancakes, that's it. He didn't sleep with anyone at all.

_"__Oh I see now,"_ Simon declared, as if he just discovered a major breakthrough. _"I know why Misaki's in such a happy mood."_

_"__Do tell, Simon,"_ Carter asked curiously. _"I'd like whatever making him seem like he's Superman."_

Taro could still distinctly remember his fellow midfielder's sly smirk towards him before saying,

_"__Iris is finally back from America. That's probably what's making him play like an unrestrained animal. He's getting a case of Napoleon. Remember when Marie finally came back and Luis's all happy and jumpy like a puppy being told they were going for a walk. That's what's happening to our friend here. Ah, young love."_

Taro wanted to point out he's only three years older than him. And he's not in love with Ayame, he thinks.

Napoleon, hearing this part of the conversation, cried indignantly at Simon's seemingly unfair comparison of him to a dog. At this point, their other teammates were snickering at them, and Taro tried to ignore them. His red cheeks didn't want to follow though.

But it did make him start to think. Was it really because of Ayame that he was like that? Was that how big of an influence Ayame was in his life?

He started reminiscing of what happened that morning, realizing it was Ayame's first morning back in Paris. He smiled remembering how nice and relaxing it was eating breakfast with her once more, their small talks were always something he would welcome anytime. He could remember the way he teased her, of how he felt so right just doing those stuff with her, of how it felt so right just being next to her.

And then he remembered the kiss.

To say that he was red was an understatement. Granted it was just on the cheek, but that was still one of the most daring thing he's ever done to someone he only treated as a friend (at least that's what he believed). He didn't even have the balls to kiss Azumi on the cheek until they were dating for five months!

Taro laid his forehead on the steering wheel of his car. Ayame was making him crazy, and they weren't even together.

He heard his phone chime next to him and quickly grabbed it to see who was calling him. Ayame's name flashed across his screen, her Disney ringtone blasting from his phone. Speaking of…

He swiped his thumb across the screen and brought it up to his phone.

"I'm right outside," he answered as he parked his car by the side, right in front of Starbucks. He didn't know why, but Ayame was adamant that he pick her up from here.

_"__Yeah, I just saw you pull up,"_ her voice came from the other line, and all of the sudden, he felt his mood light up. _"I'll be out in a minute. I just gotta get my stuff together."_

"No rush, I'll wait," he answered. She gave a few words of thank and hanged up. He proceeded to tapped in the address Napoleon gave to him on the built GPS in his car. After setting it up and the routes all figured out, he looked out of his car's window just in time to see Ayame get out of the café.

Suddenly, he felt his throat dry up.

He didn't know why he reacted that way. Ayame didn't look any different, still looking gorgeous like she usually did whenever she gets out of her home. She was wearing one of her many dresses that accentuated her figure, her curves showed for everyone to see and it ended a few inches above her knees. The v-neck of it didn't show that much cleavage, but it was enough to make men dream of what she was hiding. Her high heels (he believed she called the color of it nude, whatever that meant) just made it seem like her legs were endless. And her hair, goddamn her hair. She didn't do anything with it and just let it fall down her back like a waterfall, and as the breeze blew past her, it seemed like halo surrounded her.

(There was a brief though into his head that wondered what it would feel like as held onto her long hair as he took her from behin- holy fuck, he was not supposed to think of his best friend like that! Erase that thought this instant Misaki Taro!)

Taro unconsciously took a deep breath.

She was beautiful, there was no other way to describe her.

He's always how she was pretty, but seeing her that time, made him realize that she was so _gorgeous_ that looking at her made his heart hurt.

This… this was bad, this was really bad.

He was interrupted from his worried thoughts when he heard the passenger's door open and saw slide into the seat, a drink in her hand.

"Sorry for the wait," she said as she put her drink on the space for the cups and immediately buckled herself with the seatbelt. "I tried to move as fast as I could. There was a lot of people so the workers couldn't get to my order that quickly. You called when they were just finishing it" She took her cup again and sipped the straw.

"Its fine," he cleared his throat and turned to face the wheel, he put his car out of park just as Ayame took out her sunglasses out of her bag and put it on. "I didn't wait that long." After making sure the road was clear, he immediately merged into the flowing traffic. "But more importantly, are you really drinking a Frappuccino right before we eat."

"I needed the caffeine," was her answer as she took another sip. "I knew that sooner or later I was going to get sleepy. I can't be yawning in front of Luis and Marie. Starbucks was the solution."

He stopped at a red light and took this chance to look at her with an eyebrow raised. "Won't you be too full to eat though?"

She shook her head, "I'll probably be drinking this as we eat; get a glass of water as a drink. I'm not that hungry anyway."

He couldn't help but give her a teasing smile, "That's because you ate about four pancakes this morning. See, look at that," he pinched her arm, "that's from all the food you ate.

"Okay, this the second time you've called me fat," she glared at him, raising her sunglasses up to her head as she yanked her arm away from him. "One more and I swear I will do something horrible to you. And for the record I work out on a regular basis! I ran at least 50 miles in New York."

"You love me too much to hurt me," he replied cheekily, facing the road as the light turned green. "Besides, I didn't call you fat." He pressed the gas pedal and continued his drive towards the place they were meeting Napoleon and Marie at. His GPS told them they were close.

"You insinuated it," she countered. "Don't you think I don't know your mind games, mister," she narrowed her eyes at him, a small pout on her lips.

He only chuckled at her actions as he made the last turn. Immediately he spotted Napoleon's blue Lamborghini and parked right behind it.

"For the record," he started as they got out of his car. They got into the sidewalk, heading into the small café where they saw Luis and Marie already seated at a table. "I don't think you're fat. Far from it. And either way, I'll love you either way.

Giving her one last smile, he walked in front of her to head where their friends waited for them.

He didn't see Ayame's flushed cheeks and hear her heart beating fast just for him.

End Chapter

* * *

AN: just take this. again happy valentine's day.

thanks for reading and please read and review


	18. Stuck In Between

AN: wat up, here i am with a new chapter

**Guest-** im glad youre hyped about two new chapters. hopefully you'll like this one as well

yeah i dont own captain tsubasa

* * *

Chapter 18: Stuck in Between

He parked his car right in the parking spots right in front of the shops that lined up a couple yards from the gas station. After turning off the engine, he took out the keys from his car and got out. Ayame was inside buying them coffee. He looked at towards the sky, squinting as he glanced at the sun.

They left at seven that morning, and after about two hours of driving, they stopped at a stop over near to grab something to drink and eat, preferably something to wake them up. They were hoping arrive at St. Malo before noon after all, and he couldn't afford to feel sleepy.

He didn't know why, but Marie proposed they all go to a beach before summer ends. At first he wasn't exactly sure about it, he wasn't keen on missing a few days of training, but Napoleon countered it immediately by reminding him that Coach Roux was giving them a week off and rest before the league officially starts next week. And Ayame was quick to tease him about how much of a workaholic he was. Marie looked like she was about to cry.

Seeing that almost everyone was against him, he didn't have a choice but to give in.

Besides, the excited look Ayame gave him was worth it.

Marie then told them how her family owned a house there, and her parents had been dropping subtle hints that they wanted someone(her) to go there and check it out, see if it was still okay. She refrained from pointing out that of course it was still okay, they do maintenance to it every year. Humoring her parents, she volunteered to visit it. And taking advantage of this situation, she decided to invite them.

Of course, even if he wasn't invited, Napoleon would have come with her either way. Like hell he was going to pass going to the Dupont's beach house. It's been ages since he came there, and he wasn't going to miss a chance to go to the beach.

Taro was sure he just wanted to come so no guys could flirt with Marie while she was wearing a bikini. His teammate did have a tendency to be territorial when it came to his best friend.

Speaking of bikinis…

He wondered how Ayame would look like in one… She seemed to be really excited about showing her body off in a skimpy two piece. He was sure that whatever they would be, would probably look hot on he-

Goddamnit, Misaki Taro. You really need to get a grip on yourself. This is your best friend, not some chick you see anywhere. You can't treat Ayame like you're a hormonal teenager.

He came into the shop and saw her paying the cashier, a smile on her face and her eyes uncovered by the sunglasses that now sat atop on her head. Her long hair was gathered to the side with a hair tie, a few unbound strands framing her face. Her white sundress with various colors placed specifically on her dress fitted her perfectly, loose enough to let her breathe, but tight enough to showcase her curves. And with the sun casting a light on her, she was glowing.

She makes it so hard for him to ignore his feelings.

Ayame gave one last smile to the cashier before turning away, and when their eyes met, Taro didn't know how someone could smile brighter than before. But somehow she did, and it didn't fail to make his heart beat fast.

"Hey," she greeted as she walked towards him. She was holding onto those numbered things that tell the server what number their order was. "I got you an apple turnover, hope you don't mind. They didn't have what you wanted."

"Its fine," he answered. They took a seat in one of the empty booths by the window, and he took off his sunglasses, placing it on the table. "I didn't particularly care what I eat. I just want food."

She started to giggle to herself and took out her phone from her bag. "Of course." She began tapping on the screen, probably answering a text.

"Marie just told me that they just arrived," she informed him, placing her phone on the table. "She said she's going to whip Luis's ass and get him to start cleaning."

Taro couldn't help the snort come out of him. "Him cleaning? I doubt it."

"You never know," she sighed, taking her hair out of her hair tie and let it fan out behind her. "Marie can be quite convincing."

He was about to retort that he didn't think so, but closed his mouth to contemplate about it. Well, Marie did basically have his teammate wrapped around her finger, no matter how much his teammate denies it. Luis will probably still do whatever his best friend asked him too.

"True," he agreed, looking out the window. "He could never say no to Marie."

"I know right!" she laughed. "Man, Luis is so whipped, and I don't think he realizes it."

He looked at her from the corner of his eyes, and shared a grin with her. It was so easy finding himself relaxed with her, and even the silences didn't feel awkward with her.

"Here you are," they turned just to see a server standing by their table, a loaded tray in her hands. He guessed that those were their orders, seeing as Ayame seemed to have another smile on her face.

They gave their thanks to their server who gave them a shy smile before leaving them and telling them that the croissants were on the house. After all, it wasn't every day someone from Paris Saint-Germain visited their shop.

Taro could only smile shyly and nod as she left.

He took a glance towards his companion, who was looking down at her coffee, but he could see her biting on her lower lip as her shoulders shook in restrained laughter.

Right, laugh it all up. Nice to know that someone found this funny.

In retaliation, he grabbed one of her beignets and quickly shoved it in his mouth. She looked at him with a scandalized gasp, whining about that was her food, he had his own. He replied by chewing some more.

Ayame huffed and glared at him, before sighing and took a sip of her coffee. And before he knew it, they were back to another conversation as they began to eat.

They chatted about nothing and everything as they ate, occasionally sharing some chuckles when they talked about something quite funny, like one of the things she finds while on the internet. Sometimes, they would about their friends, and this let him be able to rant to her about Genzo's hobby of ransacking his pantry whenever he was in town. As usual Ayame just laughed it all up, but for some reason, he couldn't help but join in as well.

They finished eating quickly; he wanted to get on the road as soon as possible, and Ayame shared the same sentiments as he did. She couldn't wait to get to the beach she said. Taro just wanted to go to sleep. Ayame did offer that she could always drive, but Taro told her he was fine (to be honest, he wasn't comfortable with anyone driving his car. Sure he could always buy another one if ever something happened to it, but he's always been "a cheap ass rich person" according to his neighbor and he wasn't keen on buying a new car if he had something that was working just fine).

Opening the door for her, he followed after her as they left the shop. They were chatting about her choices for her upcoming internship for the next years, oblivious to the fact that in the distance a camera flashed brightly.

Ayame still had her sunglasses on top of her head.

The camera continued to take pictures of the two of them as they entered his car, and when they were finally completely hidden by the car's tinted windows, only then did the camera stopped.

As Taro excited the place, only then did the photographer raised herself from where she hid and looked down at her camera in bewilderment.

* * *

Taro parked behind the silver Lexus SUV, one of the many cars Napoleon owned. Although he didn't own as much as their fellow soccer players, he still did have a collection to pick from. Most of them were just stored in the mansion he built for his parents right outside of Paris. Taro guessed they probably slept there the night before to grab the car and headed straight here in the morning. Napoleon barely used the SUV, preferring the Lamborghini he frequently uses. His parents were probably glad as well; they worry about how they were going to use his collection and feared they were going to break from the lack of use.

He turned off the engine and he and Ayame got off his car. She raised her sunglasses to her head and stretched her arms up in the air.

"That felt nice," she remarked as she lowered her arms. He smiled as he opened the trunk to get their stuff, Ayame took the ones in the back seats. They were in the middle of heading towards the house when they heard familiar voices coming out of the building.

"Iris! Taro!" Marie's voice reached their ears. She quickly bounded towards Ayame, greeting them a warm welcome. Napoleon wasn't far behind. He went towards his teammate, helping him in unloading the trunk.

Both sets of people immediately eased into conversations, chatting about random things as they went inside the house and bringing what they brought in.

"I didn't exactly know what to bring," Ayame said as she put a bag of assorted food on the table. "I thought of going shopping yesterday, but I wasn't exactly sure what you guys wanted to eat, or if you'd even let me cook for that matter. So I just brought some snacks."

"You didn't even really have to," Marie said as she looked inside the bag. "I was kind of planning on asking if you wanted to go to the market with me, that way we could plan on what to cook. Or we could even eat out."

"Both sounds like a great idea," Ayame said. "We could eat out tonight, since I doubt any of us feels like cooking today at all. I know Taro would rather rest for now. He's been driving for four hours."

"Luis too," Marie nodded. Said boys filed into the kitchen, talking with each other about the latest soccer news.

"Do we have anything to eat?" Luis asked as he took a seat. "I'm hungry."

"There should be something in the bag," Ayame said as she rummaged through the bag. "Most of it are unhealthy though."

"Perfect," Luis smiled as he looked through the bag, grabbing a bag of potato chips along the way.

"Want any?" Ayame asked Taro, who shook his head and instead grabbed a bottle of Gatorade that was inside. Ayame made sure that she put something in them for him and Napoleon.

"Don't eat a lot," Marie said as she pushed strands of Napoleon's hair out of his face absentmindedly. Taro took a glance at Ayame, who seemed to have noticed it as well. "Iris and I will be going around the town to shop for food. We're going to buy lunch while we're at it."

"Need any help?" Luis asked her, stopping his munching. Taro looked at Ayame, asking the same thing.

"No, we'll be fine," Ayame answered. "At least I think we will be, right?" she turned to Marie in question who nodded in agreement.

"We'll be alright," Marie said. "You guys drove a lot today. I'm sure you and Taro are tired. Go take a rest."

"You sure?" Taro asked, screwing back the bottle cap on his drink. "I could still drive you around."

"And take the fun out of it?" Marie joked. "Nah, we'll be fine. It's not that far anyway. Besides, Iris and I and are Parisian girls." She winked at Ayame, who chuckled in reply. "Walking is something we're pros at."

Ayame put her hand on his shoulder and gave it a comforting squeeze. "Seriously, Taro. We're going to be okay. You've been up since 6:30. You're tired, go and take a three hour nap. That's what I would be doing if I were you."

Taro couldn't help the smile to form on his face. Of course, expect her to easily convince him with her own strange ways.

He laid her head on her arm, and closed his eyes. Marie's eyes widened before turning excitedly to her best friend, who only shushed her to be quiet.

"Fine," Taro conceded.

Ayame beamed at him and gave him a tight hug, Taro returned it by wrapping an arm around her and gave her a squeeze. Marie smacked Luis in arm, excitedly refraining from squealing as Napoleon nursed the part that she smacked.

"We'll bring you your favorites," Ayame said letting him go. Marie left Napoleon's side and stood beside her, hooking her arms in one of Iris's. "The two of you rest while we find something to eat. Then we could all go somewhere tonight to grab dinner."

"In the meantime, pig out on those food for now," Marie added. "We promise we'll be back soon. We'll see you later."

"Catch ya later, nerds."

"Okay," Napoleon yawned. "Just call if you need any help." The girls didn't seem to be listening as they talked with each other, leaving the kitchen along the way. They're probably off to grab their stuff and head to the stores.

"We will!"

And after that, they were gone. Taro eyes lingered on the doorway for a few moments before sighing and turned back to the table to grab another sip from his drink.

Napoleon cleared his throat.

"So what exactly is your favorite?"

* * *

Saint Malo was beautiful, Ayame decided. The town was so rustic and amazing that it felt like walking back in time. Sure, she could find little parts that was new since the destruction from World War II or other events, but even then, she still loved everything she saw. She will be forever be grateful for Marie for inviting her and Taro here.

They walked along the streets, Marie pointing out various things to her. They were on the way to the market that Marie was talking about, and she couldn't help but marvel at everything she saw.

Sure she's been out of Paris, but in all of the years she stayed in France, the farthest she's gone from the capital was Versailles. She would have loved to go all over the country, but she couldn't find the time to go on a trip, or even friends for that matter. She wasn't exactly close with any of her classmates; majoring in fashion is very competitive after all. Most of them just see each other as a threat, especially her since she was a child of a famous fashion designer. The only person she could actually call a friend in there was Claudette, but even then they didn't get to talk that much. Models rarely got called to the school, and she didn't even do it regularly. She only took modeling as a part time job to pay for her expenses as she study Computer Science (why was she surrounded by nerds?).

It was really lonely to be honest.

She didn't really had friends until she met Taro. When she met her best friend/crush, she finally found people that she could actually call friends. Just thinking about them was enough to make her cry in gratitude.

No one, not even the "friends" she had in high school treated as great as Marie and Luis does, as Taro does. Megan could be considered her friend since she was the one who told her about the whole thing with Dominic, but she was sure she only did that because she pitied her. After high school, they lost contact all together.

"You alright?" She felt a hand on her shoulder. Marie was looking at her in concern, and Ayame blinked back the tears that unsurprisingly formed.

"Yeah," she rubbed her nose with her hand. "Yeah. My nose just started to itch."

Marie laughed and threw an arm around her shoulders. "It happens to some of us. Guess your nose just isn't used to unpolluted air."

Ayame rolled her eyes. "My grandparents live in nowhere, Michigan, where one side of the road are fields stretching until the ends of the world, and the other side are forests as tall as a small city's tallest skyscraper. My lungs are used to unpolluted air."

"They aren't used to sea air though," Marie countered cheekily. "And don't even argue that New York has sea air. It's blocked by your huge ass buildings to even reach you."

Ayame gave her a sideways glance. "Touché," she smiled. She didn't have anything to argue with that.

Marie laughed once more and let go of her, leading her to make a last turn before Ayame was met with an open market bustling with people. She couldn't help but marvel at the sight before her. Even if it's already the afternoon, there were still a lot of shoppers buying food.

"Come on," Marie grabbed onto her wrist and dragged her through the market. They passed by stall after stall, Marie pointing out various things to her as they walked. It was such a lively place, and the vendors were so kind and sweet, explaining stuff for her when Marie didn't know what they were selling. Honestly she wished they had open market like this back in New York. The Union Square Market couldn't compare to this.

The two of them began searching for food that they could serve and cook for the four of them, trying to find the most reasonable prices and greatest quality among the products. Personally, if Ayame could, she'd buy every single one of them because they all look so good and fresh that she thought it was a waste not to grab whatever she could find. Marie was right beside her to reel her in when she was about to buy seven pounds of grapes from an elderly lady.

When they finished shopping, they immediately set out to buy take away from one of the food stalls in the market. They were getting kind of hungry and Marie was sure that Luis will probably call her soon, asking when they coming back with the food.

They were waiting for their food to finish cooking when she heard her phone ring from inside her back. Frantically, she gently dropped the bag of food down to the ground and took her phone out. She didn't notice who was calling her, and instead swiped it and put it next to her ear.

"Hello," she greeted.

_"__Iris?"_

She felt herself freeze.

Of all the times to call, why did Dominic have to do it today? And why the hell didn't she look at the caller ID. Sure she they might have exchanged numbers and promised to meet each other if they were free, but she did it to be polite. And when he did call or text, she made excuses to make sure that they didn't ever meet, or she didn't answer the phone.

It was low, even for her, but she had to think of herself. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

Except, now its biting her back in the ass.

"Hey…" she said unsure. Marie gave her a questioning glance, curious to why she's suddenly sounding like that and speaking in English. "Dominic. Hi, how are you?"

She heard a relieved sigh coming from the other side and she bit her lip to release a distressed one.

_"__I'm glad I got a hold of you,"_ he said. Damnit, this was not the time to feel guilty. Stop it, Ayame.

"Yeah, sorry about that," she apologized softly. "I-um-I've been really busy since I came back. Papers and all, you know."

_"__I can relate,"_ she heard him chuckle. _"I've been bombarded with papers ever since I came. Dad's people here immediately had me working as Director the day I first went into the office."_

Ayame laughed nervously, trying to convince him that she felt bad about him when in all actuality, she wanted to hang up.

_"__But anyway,"_ he cleared his throat, and somehow Ayame felt like she wouldn't like what he was going to say next. _"Since we're clearly both stressed out… I was kind of wondering if you'd like to go on a trip with me this weekend?"_

Just the two of them? Hell no.

_"__Like just as friends!"_ he immediately added. _"Just a way to release some tension. I'm not trying to do anything, I promise."_

Even if they were going as friends, she still wasn't going to go with him. Dominic had the tendency to unconsciously flirt with girls and get roped into whatever shenanigans they had. She didn't sign up for another round of getting ignored and letting him walk all over her.

Besides, she was already on a trip. Like she was going to bail out on them.

"Sorry," she apologized. "I'm out of town. I won't be back until Sunday."

_"__Oh,"_ she heard him say disappointedly. She ignored the tug in her heart at hearing him, reminding herself that this was for her own good. _"I- I see."_

"Yeah…" she mumbled uncomfortably. "Sorry."

_"__No, no it's fine,_" he said, _"I should have thought that you would have other plans. You can't just drop anything now just to be with me…"_

Damn right she wasn't. She'd rather be with someone else than be with the ex who broke her heart into pieces that even right now, she was still trying to mend it.

He cleared his throat again. _"I guess that's a no then,"_ he said softly, then he added with a hint of mirth. _"Then you own me dinner then. It's been a while since we met face to face. The party didn't really give us that much time to catch up. Maybe this time we could have enough."_

She didn't really want to, to be honest, but her mouth was just too fast for her brain.

"Sure," she heard herself say.

_"__Really?"_ was his surprised reply.

"Yeah," she said. "Just- just tell me when."

_"__I-Great!"_ he exclaimed. _"I'll- I'll call you sometime to tell you more."_

She made a humming sound to say that she understood, nodding even though he couldn't see her. "That sounds fine." Might as well humor him. Hopefully after this, they stop and go back when they ignored each other.

_"__So um, I'll see you sometime?"_

"Yeah, I'll see you," she said quietly. They said their goodbyes and finally ended the call. Once she heard the line drop, Ayame took her phone away and sighed. Dominic just really shook her whole life yet again, and she didn't like it one bit.

She shook her head and straightened her back. She took a deep breath and towards Marie, who was looking at her with a smug smirk on her face, the plastic of warm food in her hands.

"What?" Ayame asked warily.

"Nothing, nothing," Marie said as she hook her arm again through hers. Ayame grabbed the bag of groceries by her feet as she let her friend pull her through the streets. "Just curious about who you were talking to. You seemed a little apprehensive about it."

"He's just an old… friend," she settled. She didn't really know what to describe Dominic. They weren't as close as before, but they weren't strangers either. "He wanted to meet up over the weekend."

"Ooh, a him," Marie cooed. "Does Taro know about him?"

Why in the world would he need to know about Dominic?

"No?" she answered. "Why does he need to know?"

"I don't know," Marie replied airily. "I just feel like he'd like to know that."

Why would he?

"But anyway," her friend said. "A friend from America?"

Ayame nodded slowly. "Yeah. He's- he's living here now. He's managing his dad's business here, well a branch of it anyway."

"Oh, one of those rich kids?" Marie remarked. She did tend to occasionally rant about her old classmates whenever she saw their extravagant pictures on Facebook. Seriously, who needs to go on a trip to Seychelles every four months? Marie just laughed at her annoyance. Taro would make fun of her and point out that she's one of those rich kids.

Well, at least she didn't go to an "exotic" vacation each year. The last time she went to those kinds of trips was her Spring Break senior year when her parents treated her and Ayuri to a resort in Hawaii. They didn't even go out of the country.

Okay, fine, they were treated at a luxury resort. But it still didn't compare to where those other kids went. One girl, named Chelsea, judging from her Facebook profile, has been to Florida, Mexico, Greece, and Jamaica, all in one year! Not to mention, she went on all over Europe the year before.

Like who did that? A spoiled child of rich parents that's who.

But then again… Dominic wasn't like any of those. Sure he'd have his bouts of impulsive spending, but he wasn't that bad. Maybe buying the latest iPhone, or getting NHL* tickets occassionaly. He didn't particularly liked using his parents's money back when they were in high school. He did have that bout of rebellion that teenagers go through at some point in their lives, so to form some kind of independence, he refrained from getting money from his parents, and instead he worked at the mall in their suburban area.

That was one of the things that attracted her to him. He was willing to be independent of the money that was readily available to him and instead make them on his own.

And judging from the conversations they've had (the plane ride to France was more than enough time for them to catch up. She couldn't understand why he thought it wasn't), it didn't seem that he changed from that at all.

"Not exactly," she answered. "He's- he's the kind of person who'd rather earn what he was spending. Even right now, he was the one who paid for the condo he's living in instead of having his dad pay for it. He- he's really like all those other kids. He's better."

Marie looked at her weirdly for one moment, and Ayame stared back at her warily. What now?

"Huh," Marie shrugged. "You sound like you know him a lot."

Ayame froze. She didn't want to tell her Dominic was her ex. Marie would have a field day when she finds out. She's sucker at anything romantic and think of something stupid like him vying for her love once more (which wasn't exactly far from the truth. Quite opposite actually. Dominic said so). She'd demand her to go with him instead of staying here.

And she was over Dominic a long time ago. Nope, her heart didn't hurt whenever he smiles at her. Nope, not at all.

"Don't let Taro hear you about this person then," Marie teased, letting go of her and gave her a wink. "Someone might get jealous."

She walked away from her, giggling excitedly, and left Ayame standing there with a confused expression on her face.

End Chapter

* * *

AN: lol, marie is such a shipper on deck. she's already trying to match up aya and misaki when those dont even know whats going on with themselves. also, a paparazza finally got a shot of the mystery girl (aka aya) that's always with misaki. wonder what's going to happen lmao. (dont forget the little hints between marie and luis lol)

but yeah, everything's starting to make shape i think. we'll see where this thing will be headed.

*NHL- National Hockey League. It's like the biggest game of hockey in america and canada. In my mind, dominic was a huge hockey player and fan so he occasionally buys them tickets to see a game.

that's it for now, and i hope you all enjoyed this chapter.

thanks for reading and pls review

see you


	19. Burning Up

AN: hi how is everyone? good? yeah, not me too

**HimeKanata-** awww thanks. i miss you too 3 lol, idk about realizing their feelings soon. i wish aya could ignore dom, but he's like a pest that doesnt want to go away. he's there for now. thanks for reading and reviewing.

yeah i dont own captain tsubasa

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Chapter 19: Burning Up

He stepped on the blanket that was laid down on the sand. All of their other stuff were placed around the blanket so the wind wouldn't blow it away. Ayame took a towel from her bag and passed it to him. He took it from her with a quick thanks and started to dry himself. She nodded and grabbed another one, doing the same thing as he did. He looked out to the sea and saw Napoleon still in the water with Marie. They went out earlier than they did, giving the two best friends time to themselves. It looked like Napoleon needed it to be honest. He couldn't help but smile as his teammate threw his best friend to the water in revenge of splashing him.

He looked away from them and scanned the beach. They were lucky they found a less crowded spot and managed to spend the day in peace. He didn't know whether the other people in the beach recognized them, but he was grateful that if they did, they didn't bother them.

They didn't seem to be any paparazzi's around either.

"Whatchu looking around for, bud?"

He blinked and turned to his side. Ayame was looking at her in curiosity, holding her towel close to her face. A few stray strands of her hair slipped out of her braid and clung to her face, still wet from their time in the water. She would probably tell him that she looked ugly right now, but for him, she looked beautiful.

She'd always look beautiful for him, even if she looked ratchet as hell.

He smiled and pushed some of her hair to the back of her ear.

"Nothing much," he answered. "Just looking out for nosy people."

She rolled her eyes with a huff. "Oh just let them be. So what if they take a picture of you in a beach. You're having fun, you can't always be in a field kicking a ball. Besides, if they'd rather take unconsented pictures of you instead of taking advantage of being in a beach, then they need to get a life."

"Well, that is kind of their life," he countered.

She gave him a blank look, and he backed away a little bit from her.

"What?" he asked defensively. "That's their job, no matter how much I don't like what they're doing."

Ayame rolled her eyes and instead went on her knees to rummage through her bag. "Of course, you're the only one who would defend people he hates," he barely heard her mutter. He was too busy checking her ass out. Damn, her bikini didn't fail him. She looked h- damn it, there he went again. He really needed to stop doing that

"Well, then," she said as she plopped back down beside him, her phone in her hand. "Why don't you take a picture with me instead? At least this one, I asked whether you be in the picture with me. Then, maybe you can let me post it on _Instagram_ this time."

He gave her a look and sighed, "You know how I feel about that."

"Yeah, but come on," Ayame said. "Just this one time please? I won't even tag you. Besides, I don't even have that much followers. I don't have that much friends remember. Here, we'll even wear sunglasses."

She took their sunglasses from her bag and passed his to him. He took it from her while looking at it warily before directing his gaze at her. She only blinked while giving him an expectant smile. They stared at each other for a long time, challenging each other on who would give up first.

Suddenly, he sighed in defeat. Why was it that saying no to her gets harder and harder every time?

"Fine," he said, "Just as you make sure that you never tag me. And just post one. Knowing you, you'd probably take a bunch."

It was true. Whenever she wanted a picture with him, they always end up with more than one pictures. For memories, she said. But he wasn't exactly complaining. Those pictures always turned out great, even if in some of them they look like a pair of loonies.

Ayame raised her free hand. "I promise," she said excitedly.

He then gave her a smirk and motioned for her to come close to him. She produced a small squeal and started to move as he put his sunglasses. Soon, Ayame leaned close to him, sunglasses on her as well. She raised her phone away from them, and with a tap of her finger on the screen, the first of many photos was taken.

* * *

_He finally let me post pictures with him ㈳4_ _#selfieswithgrouchies_

* * *

Ayame couldn't help but grin as she stared at the post she put on her account. She managed to post more than one picture than she promised, but it was in a collage. Technically it was just one post, so she wasn't breaking her promise. It's just, they took so many pictures she couldn't pick just one. Like, the one with them just smiling as they looked at the camera was cute, but so was the one where they were doing funny faces, and not to mention the one where he was the holding her phone as she was caught midway in laughter. Seriously, how could you expect to pick just one?

A notification suddenly lit up, telling her that someone liked the collage. Ever since she posted it, she's been getting stuff like these from their friends. Most of them from Taro's teammates (and their significant others) who knew her. She didn't know why or how but they seem to like her a lot. Whatever, she liked them too. They were really nice.

But this one wasn't from those. This one came from her twin sister; her sister who not only met her best friend, but seemed to believe they were meant to be together. Her sister who was a huge fan geek, therefore very eloquent in fan lingo.

**_miracle-lily_**_ OTP ㈴5㈴5㈴5_

Oh gosh, really? How many times did she had to tell Ayuri that Taro didn't like her that way, he never will. Taro was still in love with Azumi, even if he was trying to move on. So really, she should stop believing that they were going to be together, no matter how much she wanted them to be.

Oh look another like.

**_miracle-alice_**_ is that the hotshot you've been swooning over? Huh he's cute #goodchoice_

Damnit, she hated her sisters sometimes.

**_sanshine-sky_****_ miracle-alice_**_ i know right? im waiting for the wedding invitation already_

Even Sanae? She thought she was better than that. Did this mean, they were scheming something when she and Tsubasa invited them to Barcelona?

"What's that face for?"

She looked up from her phone to see Marie come out of the public restroom, completely dressed and out of her suit. They were done swimming for the day and decided some lunch would be beneficial for all four of them. It was already two in the afternoon, and they already finished and burned all of the food they brought with them. Hungry would be an understatement.

"What face?" Ayame pretended to be oblivious. "I'm not making any face."

Marie snorted as they began to walk away from the place. The boys were already by Louis's car, waiting for them so they could finally grab something to eat, and if they didn't get a move on, one of them will be calling their phones to demand they move faster, they were starving and if they didn't come soon, they'll be leaving. Dicks.

"I already saw it, Iris," her friend told her. "There's no use lying about it, _mon amie_."

Ayame gave her a short glare before dropping it. It was no use trying to deny it. Marie did see it already.

"My sisters and cousin are incorrigible," she admitted.

"Aww, why? What did they do?"

"They think Taro and I are together, or going to be together," she said. "Just because they the collage I posted on _Instagram_, they're already assuming stuff."

"I liked that picture!" Marie exclaimed brightly.

"I know. I saw," Ayame informed her with a cross of her arms.

"In their defense, you guys did look pretty close," Marie tried to argue. "Like come, that one picture with you kissing him on the cheek was pretty squeal worthy."

"But that was a friendly kiss!" Ayame defended herself, but her cheeks were painted pink. Why did she even put that picture on there? She should have known it was going to cause her trouble. "Can't a girl give her best friend a platonic kiss on the cheek? Why does everything have to be romantic nowadays? In fact, why can't a girl and guy just be-"

She was interrupted by her rant when she suddenly ran into someone's shoulder. She almost fell backwards she felt hands hold onto her arms to _steady_ her.

"_Je suis désolé_," she apologized quickly. "I wasn't looking. I didn't mean to bump into you."

"No, no it's fine," the person said. "It was my fault. I wasn't looking eith- Iris?"

She looked up from the ground just to see the face she was hoping to not see.

"Dominic?"

Dominic's face lit up, and a huge grin spread through his face.

"Oh man!" he exclaimed. "I can't believe this. I- You- You're here! Is this what you meant when you said were out of town?"

"Yeah…" she trailed off, taking a step away from him.

Why was he here? Didn't he say he was going somewhere for the weekend? Could it be here too? Why of all places did he pick St. Malo? There's more places for him to go to that would fit him!

"This is- this is so great! I didn't expect to see you here."

Yeah, neither did she.

"My friend Marie," she gestured to Marie, who seemed to be happy to be finally be recognized, waved at Dominic. Dominic gave an enthusiastic wave back while his smile never faltered. Ayame could see the lingering curiosity in Marie's eyes, "owns a villa here and she invited me and my friend to stay with her. We've been here since Wednesday."

"That's cool," Dominic remarked. "I wish I could have come here earlier too. It'd be nice to get away from all those papers and see you here sooner."

Ayame gave a nervous chuckle as she saw from the corner of her eyes the amused quirk of Marie's eyebrow as she gave out a small smirk.

"What about you?" she quickly changed the subject. "What brings you here?"

"Oh, I'm here with Ben," he answered her. She must have a confused look on her face because he elaborated some more.

"You know, Benjamin Collins, son of the president of Next Industries?" he tried. She still wasn't recalling who this guy was. "Ben the basketball captain? Ben the prankster, or Ben the lab ruiner, or Ben the king, or Ben-"

"You're best friend?" she supplied helpfully. Dominic stared at her incredulously as she chuckled softly. "I remember him now. He used to sit beside me in your hockey games, explaining to me what's happening. And never failing to get me more worried than necessary."

"I have to thank him then," he said softly. "If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be have had you caring for me."

Damnit Dominic, stop doing that!

She coughed and looked away. "Anyway," she said before turning back to him. "What brings both of you here then? Considering him, I would have thought he'd rather go to Nice or somewhere south."

"We're actually here with Megan and one of her friends," he replied. "They began dating back when Ben transferred to UC: Berkeley* and they just hit it off I guess. Surprising right? They're not the first people you'd think would be in a relationship, but they said they had something in common so I guess it works. Besides, both of them changed a lot."

"I see…" Somehow Ayame could figure out what they had in common.

Suddenly, they heard a phone ring and Ayame felt her phone vibrate. She quickly excused herself to look at it just to see Taro sent her a text.

_Where are you guys? Louis have been complaining that he's starving and he's not quitting._

Oh shit, they needed to get back to them soon. If they didn't, Taro would sulk because they left him to deal with their annoying friend.

"Sorry, Dominic," she said. "We gotta go. We were supposed to grab lunch with our friends…"

"Oh," she saw his face drop. "I see. I didn't mean to take your time."

"It's fine."

"But, hey, maybe we could meet up here sometime?" he asked, his face lighting up again. "I mean, since we're probably not going to find free again soon, and why not take advantage of this?" Then he added with a wink. "Besides, you do still owe me dinner."

Shit, how could she forget that? See, this was she gets for being like this.

"I don't know…" she mumbled.

"Oh," his face dropped again, and she felt her stomach drop as well. "You probably already plans. I see."

"No she doesn't," Marie interrupted. They turned to her and Ayame gave her a deadly glare. Marie only winked and looked at Dominic. "She would love to go to dinner with you."

"Really?" Dominic asked incredulously.

"_Oui!_" Marie exclaimed. "I know this one restaurant called _La Petite Chef_. They have really great wine. You guys could eat there."

Oh my god, Marie shut up. Ayame thought she wanted her to be with Taro? Why was she setting her up with Dominic?

"Great!" Dominci exclaimed. "Thank you so much. I'll check it out today." Then he turned to Ayame. "I'll text you the details, is that okay?"

"Sure…" Ayame answered warily.

"Is it okay if I pick you up?"

"It's fine I ca-"

"Of course you can pick him up _mon ami,_" Marie interrupted. What the fuck Marie? "You can pick her up at…"

As Marie gave her address to Dominic, Ayame was sending her the deadliest glare she could muster. If looks could kill, Marie would have been rotting for 60 years now.

"Hope you find a reservation," Marie wished him after telling him what he needed to know. "They're usually packed, no matter how expensive they could be."

"I'm sure I can find one," Dominic assured her. Damn rich kid. "Thanks for this again."

"No problem," Marie said.

Dominic turned to her once more. "I'll see you tonight?" he asked hopefully. Ayame couldn't do anything but give her a tight lipped smile and nodded her head.

After that, they began to walk away from him, Ayame subtly trying to drag Marie away from him. Once they were out of earshot, Ayame began her attack.

"What was that for?" she demanded from her friend.

"What? I thought you needed it," Marie tried to explain. "Besides, he looked like he needed it more. You guys look like you know each other very well. Don't give me the excuse of knowing him back in school. That was too chummy for just being acquaintances."

Damn, how was she going to get away from this? Looks like there was no other way around it. She wouldn't stop until Ayame told her.

"He was… an ex," she admitted softly.

"Oh really?" Marie remarked. "That makes everything much more interesting. Taro knows?"

Why did she keep on asking if Taro knows?

"No," Ayame answered like that was the dumbest question she was asked.

"Shame," Marie shrugged. "That would have been fun to watch."

Ayame rolled her eyes and small Louis's silver Lexus getting closer.

"How the hell would that be fun to watch?"

"I just think a little competition would be good for Taro," she replied. Then, Marie separated from her and walked ahead of her. "Maybe a little jealousy too."

There she went with Taro being jealous again. Why was insisting this so much? It's not like Taro liked her.

Whatever, she's done thinking about this one. She had a dinner to worry about.

Besides, what's there to be jealous about?

End Chapter

* * *

AN: there's lot of things to be jealous bout hun, but lets see what happens in the future. anyway, i've always loved characters taking selfies, especially characters i like together because i think theyre so cute. if only i could draw them doing that lol. so yeah, selfies with grouchies and we have dom the determinator. what a chapter this has been. then a date with dom? woah. lol, its two am i need sleep.

OTP means One True Pairing, meaning the pair that you would fight tooth and nail for as long as they end up together. Since Ayuri's really genre savvy, i made her a huge fangirl.

*UC: Berkeley- University of California: Berkeley. Its another great university in america, in california, specifically in berkeley. Any of the University of California schools are great. I just chose Berkeley.

thats it for now so i hope you enjoyed this chapter. thanks for reading and please review (i know youre there. i can see my hits growing. just a short review would suffice so i can get feedback. nothing much) or not. you know what, just do your own thing. thanks for reading still

see ya soon


	20. Where the End Starts

AN: hi

yeah i dont own captain tsubasa

* * *

Chapter 20: Where the End Starts

She carefully painted her lips with the red lipstick on her hand. She rubbed them together, making sure that the color was evenly distributed throughout her lips. After she was satisfied with the color, she smeared the lip gloss on top, giving her lips that shiny glow she knew always catches everyone's eyes.

To be honest, she doesn't even know why she was putting that much effort in her makeup. It was just Dominic. She didn't nor plan to impress him. Like, she didn't even put this much effort with Taro, and he was the one she was attracted to. There was just something in him that told her to look good, and it's not even about Dominic. She didn't exactly know what it was, but she still followed it. Besides, she look cute as hell in this dress, she wasn't going to pass up the occasion to wear it, even if it's for Dominic.

She turned to the full length mirror in the room she was occupying in the Duponts' house. Marie gave her the room without any debate, and the guys seemed to be fine with it. She couldn't exactly blame them, she didn't want to admit it but she really did put a lot of effort on how she looked, no matter how much she pretended she didn't.

Sure she could make herself look ratchet as hell with her family, but that's because they know what she looked like. Hell, she even looked uglier in Taro's company because she knew he wouldn't care. She could dress in a potato sack and he wouldn't even blink an eyelash. As much as she wanted him to care, she was fine that he didn't as long as she could be comfy.

But she'd die first before she would be caught outside looking like a hobo. Just looking so-so-so casual didn't bode well with her.

So yes, she'd dress up for this-this- whatever this was (she refused to call it a date. It's not a date. Nope, not at all), even if Dominic might think she did it just for him.

She flattened the middle part of her dress and took a deep breath. The maroon color contrasted her skin and its shape really defined her curves. It really showcased her shoulder and collar, the off shoulder sleeves stop perfectly to show just the right amount of skin to tease, but not bad enough to make her look like a sleaze. Her stilettos complimented it well, making her look taller than she usually did. Her body didn't look like a stump as she liked to say it. Her golden hoop earrings swayed gently as she turned to check her look as well, making sure that the golden charm on her neck was placed perfectly in between her collar bones. Her hair fell behind her back in curly waves, making it look thicker than it looked. Alright, she was looking good.

Maybe looking like this was a bad idea.

"You look nice," she turned towards her door to see Taro leaning against the doorway, his hands in the pockets of his shorts. His white shirt clung on his body like second skin, defining the muscles he gained from all those years of training.

Damn he looked hot. Look at him, not even doing anything and he looked so godly while she spent at least four hours to look like this. And she only got a "nice" from him!

"I didn't even know you brought a dress as fancy as that."

She smiled and walked towards him. "Well, you never know when you're going to go to a fancy event. Always be ready." To be honest, she was hoping she could wear this with him, or even the four of them to eat at that fancy restaurant, but hey the world hated her right.

"So…" he asked, standing straighter. "The guy at the airport? The one waiting with you?"

She looked away and started playing with a lock of her hair. "Yeah…" she answered. "I kind of promised him we'd hang out sometime… I guess this was that sometime."

"You don't sound excited to hang out with him," he pointed out straightforwardly. Of course, expect him to figure it out so easily.

She took a deep breath and turned her body away from him, turning to face the window at the side. "What are you talking about? I'm pumped to go with him. Why do you think I dressed up?" she countered shakily, hoping that he'd take it.

"Aya," he warned, taking a step closer to her. "Don't even try lying. I know you enough to know when you're lying." He gently took a hold of her elbow, making her look at him. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she said unconvincingly, looking away from him again. "Nothing's wrong. Just… a little unsure about this whole thing."

Damnit, why did she say that? Now he really wasn't going to stop asking.

"Unsure?" he said. "That's a weird word to use. Why would you be unsure about this? Unless…" Ayame turned to look at him just as a sharp look crossed his face.

Suddenly, she felt her heart start to race.

"Is he a dangerous man?" he asked seriously. "Do you mean to say that you feel unsafe with him?"

What the hell was he talking about?

"No, no," she denied. "Dominic doesn't make me feel that way. In fact, he'd be the first one to slug anyone who'd try and assault me." It was true, even if Dominic was already cheating behind her back, he was still protective of her when someone tried to flirt with her (which was unfair because she couldn't even do that since she was fucking kept in the dark about all his affair. Ugh, see this was why she didn't like talking about this, lots of buried memories and emotions are resurfacing).

"Are you sure?" He gave her a serious look and it melted her heart a little from the concern he was showing to her.

"Positive," she answered with a resolute nod.

Taro looked at her inquisitively, staring at her with calculative gaze until he finally dropped it. "Then what's wrong? If he's going to protect you, then he doesn't sound so bad."

Was she really ready to tell him why Dominic made her feel so unsure? That this guy was the one who broke her heart that she was still trying to fix? That he wanted to try fixing it back but she was sure he couldn't because Taro was so close to healing it?

But knowing him, he wouldn't stop asking until he got an answer.

Sighing, she looked away from him.

"He was… he was my ex-boyfriend," she finally admitted, hugging herself. She didn't see the way Taro froze, his eyes widening.

She took a deep breath, turning her whole body away from him. "We didn't-we didn't end it in good terms. We had a bad break up."

They were suddenly enveloped by an uncomfortable silence. Ayame finally released the breath she didn't know she was holding back. She turned to him slowly, expecting him to have an annoyed expression like he always did whenever he didn't agree with her actions, but she was surprised to see him staring at him with a look she couldn't describe.

They stared at each other for a few moments. She could feel something in the air around them, but she couldn't exactly put her finger on it. She slowly met her eyes with his, and immediately she felt herself take another deep breath.

He was staring at her intensely, his eyes had something in them that made her feel so conscious of them, but it also made her feel like he was at war with himself, as if he wanted to say something to her.

Slowly, he opened his mouth, ready to speak.

But her phone suddenly rang, and somehow she didn't know whether to be relieved or resentful to it.

Blinking, she hurriedly went to the bed; her clutch bag had her phone inside it. She rummaged through the bag until she finally found her phone, vibrating with Dominic's phone name flashing on the screen.

"Hello," she answered.

_"__Iris! Hey,"_ Dominic's voice came from the other line. _"Just wanted to say that I'll be there soon. Just few more yards from your place."_

Already? It wasn't even se- oh damn, 6:45 already? Where the hell did the time go?

"Oh," she said dumbly. "I-I see. Um… I-I'm just gonna finish up really quick. You can just ring the doorbell when you get here."

_"__Great! I'll see you soon."_

"Yeah, see you," she faltered with a strained smile. The other line ended and she released a deep breath. She put her phone back in her bag and slowly turned to face Taro again.

"I- uh-I gotta go um soon," she said unsurely. Taro seemed put off, but he didn't say anything about it and only nodded. Ayame sighed and went close to him, wrapping her arms around him loosely for a hug.

"Don't have too much fun without me," she mumbled against his chest.

"You're the one who makes everything more fun," he replied as he returned her hug, much tighter than the one she gave him. She couldn't help but smile against his chest and gave him a tighter hug.

She released him soon after. Her smile didn't falter, and when she looked back to him, he had a smile on him too.

"See you later?" he asked.

Ayame nodded, and before she could even say anything else, her phone beeped, saying that Dominic was already outside waiting for her.

"So, I'll see you later," she said, a little unsurely. She took a small step towards him, and she wasn't sure whether she should do what she wanted to do.

Oh fuck it.

Quickly, she leaned towards him and landed a quick peck on Taro's cheek. In a blink of an eye, she separated from him and rushed out of the room.

"Bye, hotshot!" she called out and down the stairs she went. She didn't think she could take what he would look like after what she did.

If only she looked back, she would have seen him looking at him with clouded eyes as his hand clenched into fists.

* * *

The ride to the restaurant wasn't as bad as she thought it was going to be. Dominic was pretty chill actually. He wasn't pushing or talking about their past relationship, and instead brought up memories from their high school years, sometimes from their childhood (all of them basically grew up with each other. They came from a small school that only took in the richest after all). It was nice talking about those memories, and Ayame found herself smiling as they reminiscence the past. Somehow, she could even believe that maybe this night wouldn't be as horrible like she expected.

They just got into the restaurant, and as she looked around, she could see why Marie would recommend this to Dominic. It was fancy, though it's not as fancy as some of the restaurants she's been to just because her family was invited by another rich family. It was pretty simple, just as she liked it. And now that she thought about it, Dominic liked places like this too. She remembered when they were still together how he'd bring her someplace affordable, not to those five star restaurants around New York. They'd rather pig out than go starve themselves eating food they couldn't even pronounce.

Looking back at her companion who was talking to the host in fluent (albeit a little accented) French. Ayame couldn't help but wonder when and how he suddenly became fluent in the language when in high school, he wouldn't even be bothered learning it. He just liked hearing her talk in it.

The host politely asked them to follow them to their table and Dominic quickly settled to walk beside her. "I really wished that it was just the two of us," she heard him whisper to her. She turned to him in confusion and was about to ask what he meant, but Dominic only thanked the host with a smile and nod while she heard a voice call her name.

She turned to the table the host stop at, and couldn't believe the sight before her.

They changed, at least some of their features did. But it was no denying that the ones in front of her Megan and Ben. They had friendly smiles on them and an excited gleam in their eyes, and honestly, she didn't know what to feel about this.

She blinked out of her surprised state when she felt Dominic's hand push her gently towards the table. Ayame bowed her head and let herself be led by Dominic. She sat down on the chair Dominic pulled out gently, albeit a little lost as she looked at Dominic, still not knowing how to deal with what's going on.

"It's nice to see you again, Iris!" Ayame heard her Megan say to her, gingerly turning to look at her old classmate.

"We had to pester Dominic nonstop to take us with him when we found out that he was going to meet you here," Ben added.

Ayame could only give a smile to them as Dominic glared at his best friend across the table. It was- it was a surprise to see them here, and she didn't know whether to be relieved or not. On one hand, she was glad they were there because it meant she didn't have to be alone with Dominic, but at the same time, she didn't know whether she liked seeing them again. To be honest, she wasn't expecting to see them so soon, actually she wasn't expecting to see them at all.

Ben did a low whistle as Dominic asked for a waiter. "Damn, Dominic wasn't kidding when he said you changed. You looked hotter in person instead of having him describe you."

Ayame just gave a small smile and looked down, feeling suddenly uncomfortable.

"Of course, Dominic called you beautiful instead of hot," Megan interjected, lightly bonking Ben on the head. "Don't listen to this rascal. You know how he is."

Ayame glanced at Dominic, whose ears were flushed as he continued to try and catch a waiter's attention. She knew the guy was as embarrassed as he was. That's what always happened when he didn't like that Ben was embarrassing him once more.

"O-okay," Ayame muttered. "Thanks. I guess."

"But seriously," Megan continued. "Look at you. You look gorgeous!"

Ayame only smiled and nodded her head, saying her thanks silently.

"I just heard from my mom that you transferred to Paris two years ago, and Dominic just confirmed it to me a month ago that you're finally studying fashion design," Megan said.

Again, Ayame nodded. "Yeah… It's been, it's been quite an experience." And it was. Ayame just had to smile remembering all the times she spent in school, and thinking about what next year will bring to her. Plus, there was another reason why Paris was precious to her.

"I'm glad," Megan said, smiling.

The waiter finally arrived and started them off with the house wine. The four of them began to chat among themselves, catching up from the years they missed of each other. Ayame wasn't exactly keen on that activity, opting to only divulge the most basic stuff about her. She never told them of the more intimate parts of her life in Paris, especially not about Taro.

Soon, the waiter came back with more wine and took their orders.

"Are we even friends on Facebook?" Megan asked as she took a sip on her glass. They were, but Ayame barely updated it. Last time she went on it, was to change her profile picture three weeks ago. "What about Instagram? Twitter?"

Oh shit. She's going to ask for them wasn't she?

"I don't think so?" Ayame answered unsurely.

"Oh my god!" Megan exclaimed excitedly. "We should totally follow each other. Here," she fiddled with her black clutch bag on the table. She took out her phone and Ayame refrained from groaning out loud, she knew she shouldn't have said that. "Tell me your IG name and your Twitter name. I'll follow you right now."

"S-sure," she said. "My Instagram is um miracle-iris," she supplied. "Twitter is iKiseki."

"Ooh, can I go follow as well," Ben asked cheekily. "I'm curious to how you've been with your twitter posts. Must be quite a thing to read."

Ayame had to give him a mischievous smirk. "If you can figure them out," she winked. "Being multilingual is always an advantage."

Ben huffed as he took his phone out as Ayame tried to stifle a giggle. "See this isn't one of the things I missed about you. Your wittiness is more annoying than I remembered."

"I think it's cute," Dominic muttered, but it was loud enough for everyone to hear. Ayame of course, felt herself heat up as she looked down to her lap. Damnit, here he went again.

"Of course you would think that," Ben retorted cynically. Ayame grabbed her phone from her bag idly just as a notification lit up the screen. Judging from the screen name, she guessed that both Megan and Ben followed her both on Instagram and Twitter. Before she could even unlock it, another person followed her on twitter and she kind of figured that it was Dominic judging from the name.

"Damn it, Iris," Ben swore. "Not only are you posting in French, but do you really have to tweet in Japanese too? I know you're half, but really?"

Ayame only shrugged and unlocked her phone, going straight to her twitter and following back the other three. It'd be rude of her if she didn't follow back.

She finally put her phone down right when Megan exclaimed excitedly.

"Woah, Iris," she said. "Dominic said you didn't have a boyfriend. Who's this hottie you're with in your Instagram?"

Hottie? Who? She was sure-

Oh. Oh shit.

"What?" she said, and Megan immediately showed her phone to her. Ben looked at them curiously while Dominic stared at them with narrowed eyes. Ayame didn't seem to notice it, considering that she was more preoccupied about screaming at herself in her mind of how much of an idiot she was. If Megan saw the picture she was thinking about, then she was screwed and Taro was going to strangle her.

Sure enough, when she saw the picture Megan was talking about, she almost died. It was the collage of her and Taro and why did she even put the picture of her kissing him on the cheek in the middle? It was hug compared the others surrounding it and it'll really make people misunderstand the situation.

Granted she did want more from their relationship.

But that wasn't the point. Now she really couldn't shut up about her life.

"O-oh, him," Ayame stuttered, quickly returning the phone to Megan. "He's a friend," she continued, then her eyes softened as serene smile made its way to her lips. "My best friend."

She was looking out of the window she didn't notice the way all three were looking at her, as if they didn't believe her. Dominic even looked he was fuming.

"You sure?" Ben asked, peering onto Megan's phone over her shoulder. "You seem pretty close to just be friends," he said, giving a discreet glance at Dominic, who had been silent for a while, but his jaw was tight and he had a sharp look in his eyes.

Ayame rolled her eyes and turned back to face them. "Yes, I'm sure," she said. "Can't a guy and a girl just be friends without anyone thinking we're dating? You're like, the 10th person to ask that question."

"Just making sure you're still on the market, babe," Ben winked. "_Some_ people would be glad you're still available."

She didn't need to guess on who he was talking about, the very person he was alluding to was right beside her after all.

Dominic coughed from beside just as a waiter arrived with their food. The four of them began to eat, chuckling as they reminiscence about their days together, from preschool all the way to the last days of high school. Of course, they skipped over senior prom, which was good, because if they started to talk about how much they had at that moment, she would have left and walked back's to the Dupont's house.

"Remember that time when Emily punched Aiden so hard he fell on the floor?" Megan laughed, a little bit tipsy from all the wine she's drank. If Ayame was right, she refilled her glass about eight times now. Ben and Dominic didn't drink much, considering they're the designated drivers of the night. Good, because she'd rather walk home than go home with someone drunk.

"That was in junior year, right?" Dominic asked. "Aiden deserved it. He was being an ass."

Ben snorted as he sipped his drink. "The dick totally needed that."

Oh yeah, Ayame remembered him. He was the most obnoxious guy she'd ever met and that was saying something since half of their class were obnoxious. Besides, Aiden was really an asshole. Like just because he's the son of a subpar construction company, didn't mean he's the hottest shit around school. He was a big bully too, so it was a great thing Emily finally punched him right after graduation.

"If Emily didn't do it, I think I might have done it," Ayame remarked as she took a sip from her glass. "He was annoying me."

Ben gave her a blank look. "You?" he said. "No offense Iris, but you don't like someone who would be able to hurt him."

Ayame put her glass back down with an offended gasp. Dominic chuckled from beside her before laying a hand on hers, like the way he used to when he was calming her down.

"Trust me, her punches hurt," Dominic said, rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb. She knew it was supposed to calm her, but it didn't really do anything to be honest. She was looking for a different hand. Dominic's hand felt unfamiliar now. And her skin was craving another's touch.

She was looking for Taro's touches.

Slowly, she took her hand away from Dominic's and moved a little bit away from him. She faintly heard their conversation dying down as they watched her fumble with her bag and took out her phone to check on it. She missed the way Dominic looked at her with disappointed longing before sighing through his nose and took his hand away. Ben and Megan shared looks with each other before turning to look at Dominic who was still giving Ayame discreet glances. Pressed the lock button on her phone, lighting up as she was bombarded with Snapchats and drunken texts from Marie. Her words, if they were talking face to face, were slurred and almost unintelligible. She couldn't help but smile as she unlocked it and proceeded to text back.

Her three companions watched as her smile widens everytime her phone buzzed, and had easily managed to produce a soft chuckle from her.

The only thing they've gotten from her was a small smile.

How in the world could these people make her produce such a beautiful expression on her face with just one text?

Ayame, as if feeling that she was being watched, raised her head to look up just to see everyone's eyes on her. She raised an eyebrow and asked. "Something wrong?"

"Nothing, nothing," Megan remarked airily, finishing the rest of her wine. "Just wondering who could make you smile like that. Your not-boyfriend maybe?"

Ayame flushed lightly, but scoffed at her statement. "It wasn't him okay. My other friend, _a girl_, was getting smashed and drunk with him and her best friend at her family's beach house."

Then she took another glance to her phone. "And speaking of…" she trailed. "It's getting pretty late. I really should probably head back. Who knows what those three will get too." She started to stand up, grabbing her bag with her. "Thanks for dinner everyone. It was-" she paused, taking a deep breath, "It was nice hanging out with you guys again."

Megan and Ben began to complain about how it was too early for her to go home. Ayame only smiled and apologized. She didn't really want to stay any longer, even if it was fun to talk with them. It was just too uncomfortable still.

Dominic stood up as well, grabbing his car keys from his pocket. Ayame started to tell him to sit back down gently. Dominic only smiled and continued to walk towards the parking lot.

"You don't have to drive me back. I'm sure you would still rather go be with Ben and Megan, "she said. "I can just call a taxi. It's not that far."

"And risk knowing that something happened to you?" he said. He opened the passenger's door for her, waiting for her to get in. "Not going to happen. Besides, what kind of man would I be if I just let you go home in a taxi? I'd rather drive you back and know that you're safe."

Ayame didn't really want to spend more time together with him, but Dominic wouldn't take a no for an answer. With a sigh, she blinked her eyes and gave in.

"Alright," she said, getting into the car. Dominic smiled before closing the door and went around to get to the driver's seat. Once he was settled in, he wasted no time to turn on the engine and pull out of the parking lot.

The ride back to Marie's place was silent, something that didn't bother Ayame too much. She would rather stay like this than let him make small talk like they were still together. Sure she did miss how they could easily talk about anything and everything back when they were in a relationship, but Dominic couldn't just expect that she would gladly welcome him back with open arms.

And especially with how he was acting in the restaurant, constantly touching and looking at her like she was the light of his life, and ignoring the fact that she was uncomfortable with him, she didn't think she believed that he didn't ask her to dinner without any other intentions.

"So," she heard him begin once they stopped for a red light. "The guy with you on your recent Instagram picture looks familiar." The light turned green just as Ayame looked at him. Dominic pressed on the gas and continued. "He was the one who picked you up right?"

"Yeah," Ayame answered, looking away from him again. "He's- he's my neighbor too, so it was pretty convenient." Ayame couldn't help but smile just thinking about Taro. "Besides, he would rather pick me up than let another person drive me home."

"He's just… a friend right?" He asked hesitantly, weighing his words as he kept his eyes on the road. "Nothing else?"

Ayame rolled her eyes. She already answered this question. Why was he asking again? Besides why did he care anyway? It's not like they were still dating. "Yes," she said, exasperated. "I swear if another person asked about this, I'm going to kill them. It doesn't really matter what my relationship with him is."

"It matters to me," Dominic replied with a slight hint of anger in his voice. He pulled into the Dupont's driveway and set the car in park as he set his hands on his lap. Ayame turned to him with an annoyed scowl on her face. Why did it matter to him anyway? She wasn't dating anyone, not him, not Taro. End of story.

"That asshole can't just act like that with you without any other intentions," he growled, a little bit jealous just remembering the way she was close with that guy. Iris might think that he didn't like her, but Domini knew he did. And he wasn't willing to give her to him without any fight. "He doesn't deserve someone like you."

Ayame snorted and crossed her arms, slumping against the seat. "And you do?" she retorted hotly. Dominic turned to her quickly, his eyes wide. Okay, that was a little mean. Ayame sighed and rubbed her temples. "Please, Dominic. We've been over this. We're over. I don't even know if we even began anything at all."

"It's been years since then, Iris," he said, exasperated. "Are you still really angry about it? I thought you said were over-

"You cheated, Dom!" she shouted, slipping into that familiar nickname she used to call him. "How am I going to be over it?" There were tears threatening to fall from her eyes, but she fought them back. "You said so yourself. You knew I was in love with you, that I _loved_ you. And even then, you still cheated, still had sex with her knowing how I felt about you. And apparently everyone knew except for me. Do you know how stupid I felt? How humiliating it was? Six months, Dom, six months. That's how long everyone hid the truth from me. Ayu was the only one who tried to tell me the truth but I ignored it because I choose to believe you instead of my twin sister who probably knew me better than all of that damn school."

She looked away from him, the moon's light shining down on them. "You could have just told me that you didn't want to be together anymore. I would have understood."

"But I still wanted us to be together," Dominic said. "I even want us back. What more do you need? Isn't this enough?"

"Is there even really an enough to heal a broken heart?" She asked quietly. She didn't look at him, but instead, she sighed and took off the seat belt.

"I'm sorry, I can't deal with this right now," she said as she got out of the car. "Thanks for the dinner. Tell Ben and Megan it was nice to see them again. Good night."

She closed the door without even letting him say anything. Ayame didn't look back and kept looking forward, trying to keep herself together. When she was about to knock on the Dupont's door, it suddenly opened, revealing Taro with a smile on his face. Ayame stared at him with wide eyes, her breath stuck in her throat.

"Hey!" he said. "Welcome ba- are you okay?"

She was about to say she was fine, but only a strangled gasp escape from her lips before she felt the tears start streaming down her face.

"Aya? What's wrong?" He asked, taking her face his hands and wiped the tears from her face. She tried to make them stop but they just wouldn't and soon she found herself pressed against his chest as she continued to muffle her sobs.

Taro held her close as he looked out of the door, only to notice the silver SUV of the guy who picked her up.

Somehow he knew that he was the reason why she was crying.

He met eyes with him for a brief moment, and he gave him a hardened stare while pulling Ayame closer to him before slowly closing the door.

He swore to make sure that he'll never make her cry again.

End Chapter

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AN: bye


	21. Why Don't You Stay at Mine Tonight

AN: frankly i dont even know what happened but have this

**Unknown-** hey man, thanks for reading. i do plan on continuing its just the issue of updating lol. i dont know about making dominic die. that seems a little overboard. but i do have a plan to get rid of him

**Harukachan-** you and i both, bud. i dont even know whats happening with taro and aya's relationship. no promises on updating tho. thanks for reading

**HimeKanata-** i dont know about the making her cry part lol. but misaki will probably try and not make her cry. he's... he thinks denial is just a river in africa still. thanks for reading though 3

yeah i dont own captain tsubasa

* * *

Chapter 21: Why Don't You Stay at Mine Tonight

He was pathetic, he was sure. He was even positive Louis and Marie noticed his sudden gloomy attitude ever since Ayame left. They were just nice enough to ignore him. Well, Marie was probably. If she didn't have a close leash on Louis, Taro was sure that his teammate would have taken this chance to tease and annoy the hell out of him, which was something he didn't need.

It's just really agitating, knowing that Ayame was with her ex-boyfriend.

In all honesty, he didn't have a right to feel this way. It almost felt like he was a jealous boyfriend scared that his girlfriend will suddenly have her old feelings for an old flame be lit again (which he wasn't because he's not Ayame's boyfriend and will never be. Nope, he didn't have any feelings for her- fuck it yeah he did, _does_). Really, he had no business even worrying about this.

But the fact that she told him that they had a bad break up was doing things to his mind. What did she even mean by that anyway? Did they end things awkwardly or did he do something to her that she wanted out immediately? But didn't she say that if anyone even tried to do something to her, this Dominic would be the first one to hurt them.

And the way she talked about him, it didn't sound like she wanted to break up with him. It sounded like she still liked him, that she was still in loved in him.

Just thinking about it was enough to make his chest hurt, making him more adamant to ignore whatever he was starting to feel for her, whatever they might be.

It didn't mean he could, not when just one look was enough for his heartbeat to stop, when her touch on his skin felt like a spark wanting to light a fire inside of him, when just one second with her was enough for him to think that spending eternity with her seemed like the perfect way to live his life.

He groaned while throwing his head back and hid his face in his hands. This was getting more complicated every moment. Why was this happening to him? To them? Ayame was only there to be a friend and help him move on from Azumi, not for him to fall in love with her.

"What got you in such a twist?" He heard Louis's voice ask him. He removed his hands from his face just in time for his friend to set two cans of beer on the coffee table and plopping down to take a seat beside him. Louis got the remote of the TV from the table and turned it on.

"Nothing," Taro sighed. "Just thinking about stuff."

"Yeah right," Louis scoffed as he grabbed his beer can. "I've known you for how long now, I could tell that it wasn't just nothing. Besides, all your brooding here practically tells us you having a big problem."

He was not brooding!

...Okay maybe he was.

Louis continued to browse the channels, mindlessly sipping from his can. Taro only turned towards the TV and joined him in perusing for an enjoyable show. It was better to let his mind be taken by something instead of thinking about his best friend. It wasn't like he could do anything about it at this point. The only thing he could really do it was wait for her to come back, hopefully tonight, in one piece, and single,

Definitely single.

...God damn it.

"You know, it's okay to be jealous," Louis suddenly spoke. He turned his head to him in surprise, caught off guard by his sudden statement. Jealous, why would he be jealous, and more importantly, of what?

"I heard from Marie," Louis continued, setting his beer on the table. "That Iris is meeting with an ex-boyfriend. You can be jealous of him, bud. There's nothing wrong if you hate the guy right now for having a date with your girl."

"Jealous?" Taro scoffed. "Why would I be jealous of him? What is there to be jealous of? Besides, she's not my 'girl'. Aya can be together with whoever she wants." He turned away from his teammate, crossing his arms in annoyance. He's not jealous. He's just… worried. Yeah, he's worried for the wellbeing of his best friend.

Louis sniggered and placed the remote on the table close to his beer. Taro glanced at the TV to see that he settled to see a channel showing swimming competitions.

"Not jealous my ass," he laughed. "Everything that you just said screams jealousy. Come on dude," he looked at him, "Stop denying it. You _like_ Iris, and the thought of her getting back together with an ex that doesn't seem to have completely buried their past behind only pisses you off. It's completely normal."

The thought didn't piss him off, just… irritated him, and enraged him.

Fuck, he was jealous.

God damn it.

"I mean I've had my fair share of being jealous with whoever Marie dates, really you shouldn't be ashamed of feeling this way," Louis added as he took a swig from his can.

Wait, what?

"What?" Taro mumbled in shock. Did he hear him right or...

"Hmm," Louis nodded, playing with his can. "Especially when the guy tries so hard to impress her. Then they find out she lives with me." There was an amused smirk on his face, but Taro was too busy processing what he just said and admitted. "Oh man, their faces are hilarious."

"You do know that you just kind of admitted to me that you like Marie right," Taro pointed out to him.

Louis turned to him with an eyebrow raised. "So?"

"You're not even going to deny it at all?"

Louis turned away from him with a shrug. "Why should I?" he replied. "It's the truth. Unlike you, who continues to ignore what's right in front of him."

Taro ignored his jibe. "Does Marie know?" he asked.

Louis gave him a blank look. "Would I be terrorizing her so-called 'dates' if she does?"

Taro returned his blank stare back, before Louis began to cackle and he could only roll his eyes in exasperation.

"Nah, she doesn't know," Louis finally answered seriously after calming down, his hand swishing the almost empty beer can.

Suddenly, he seemed different from the Louis he was used too. He didn't seem to be as hot headed as he usually was, not as annoying. He seemed calm, the calmest he had ever been.

"How," Taro suddenly blurted out. Louis turned to him puzzled. "I mean, how did you know? That you like her."

"Oh," Louis mumbled, then he chuckled. "Don't expect anything big. It wasn't that grand you know. We were 15 and get this, it was just after you guys defeated us. I was at home, sulking and all of the sudden she came barging in with her 10 month old nephew in her arms and a bag with baby supplies. She said we're on babysitting duty. Of course, it was technically just her, but you know how she could be. I told her to fuck off, but instead she just gave the baby to me and proceeded to the kitchen to make baby food for little Matthieu. So I got stuck with babysitting with her.

"And I'm grateful that she came to be honest, no matter how much I try to deny it to her," he chuckled once more. "Looking after Matthieu made me think less about France's defeat to Japan, about how humiliating it was that the host country was defeated by this country who was just budding in the soccer world, about how stupid I was to be defeated by you guys. But while watching a children's movie that caught Matthieu's attention, she began telling me how proud she was of me, that the match was the best she ever seen me play (of course, that's different now), and that that match does not measure my worth as a soccer player. I was going to be greater than this, and losing the match with Japan was just an obstacle I just had to get over."

Then a fond smile entered Louis's face. "And as I stared at her dumbstruck, I felt my heart skip a beat. Little Matthieu suddenly giggled and clapped his hands about what happened in the movie, Marie, clapping and cooing with him, and I realized," his face softened and Taro could realize what that expression meant.

"I love her," Louis said softly, his voice barely a whisper, but Taro heard it perfectly.

Silence came upon them, and only the announcer of the swim meet declaring who was the winner of the heat was heard around them.

It was- it was definitely something he didn't expect to find out.

"When are you going to tell her?" Taro managed to say after finding his voice.

Louis shrugged and finished the rest of his drink. "Who knows," he answered nonchalantly.

"You're not going to tell her?" Taro asked incredulously. All that for nothing?

"Oh I'm going to tell her," Louis said. "Just not right now. Marie's… She's not ready yet I think."

"Not ready?" Taro repeated.

"Marie's... a little confused about herself," Louis answered. "She's trying to break free of her sister's shadow, and it's been hard for her to discover who she really is. To be honest, she's only figuring out herself now. There was a reason she went to New York aside for school reasons. She went there to get away from… here."

The last word came out softly, and Louis's gaze lowered to his hand.

"And you just let her?" Taro asked.

"Well, yeah," Louis shrugged. "I can't do anything about it. Marie already decided to go. I didn't want her to, of course. But when I looked at her, I knew she needed to go, to finally discover who she was, to see who I see whenever I look at her."

"Did it work then? Does she finally see what you see?"

"Not yet," Louis smiled. "She's getting there though. It's fun actually. Because now, I see a different her, and she's more beautiful than ever. She's always changing Taro, and seeing her evolve is something amazing."

Taro decided that this suited Louis perfectly, love suited him perfectly.

But…

"But what if, you know," Taro tried to pass it off as nothing. "What if she found someone else?"

Louis managed to chuckle as he put his empty can the table. "That's not going to happen."

Taro raised an eyebrow. "Oh really?"

"Marie's mine," Louis turned to him with a smirk. "She just doesn't know it yet."

Taro stared at his teammate incredulously with with wide eyes. He was taken aback with his declaration. But, he didn't expect any less from Louis.

Slowly, his lips formed a grin and he felt a chuckle escape from his mouth. Louis's smirk softened and soon enough both of them were sharing chuckles between the two of them.

"Hey, I just saw a car pull up onto the driveway," a familiar voice entered their ears.

Both of them stopped laughing and froze, Louis even beginning to sweat as he stared with dread at Taro. Taro could only shake nervously as they stiffly turned towards the entrance of the living room.

Oh god, he hoped that she didn't hear any of that.

"I think that might be Iris. It looks like Dominic's car," Marie continued, her gaze directed at the hallway. She didn't seem to be have heard what they said, which was a good thing. But even then, it was still too early to relax.

"You want to welcome her back, Taro?" Marie said as she turned to them with a smile. "I'm sure that she'll lik- what's wrong? Why do you guys look like you've seen a ghost?"

Taro and Louis shared looks between them, before Louis cleared his throat.

"Nothing," he exclaimed, "Nothing. We just got done watching a horror movie. We thought there was the discombobulated body of the monster from the movie. Turns out it was just you, which isn't exactly any better."

Marie produced an offended gasp and started stomping towards her best friend, hitting him lightly and telling him to take what he just said. Louis's only let out an annoyed sound and started to tell her to quit hitting him.

Taro chuckled to himself as he watched the two of them banter. Just from his perspective, he was sure Louis didn't need to keep his feelings to himself longer than he expected, Marie was very much in love with him, even if she didn't know it yet.

He stood up from his seat, telling the two friends that he was going to see Ayame in. The two was too busy wrestling to even hear him, so he just left to go the door.

Just as he neared towards the door, he suddenly felt himself lighten up. Finally, she was back! At least now he knew that she was safe and sound.

Knowing if she was still single though, was another matter altogether.

Why was he thinking about that anyway. Ayame was back, that's all that mattered.

Taking a deep breath, he grabbed the door handle and opened it.

He wasn't expecting to see her right when he swung the door open. It didn't look like she was expecting him either. Her hand was up the hair, fisted as if ready to knock. She stared at him with wide eyes, probably surprised by his sudden opening of the door. He was expecting a smart retort coming from her, but instead she continued to stare at him with her eyes wide.

Smiling, he greeted her. "Hey! Welcome ba-" wait, something seems wrong. "Are you okay?"

Ayame opened her mouth to answer him, but before she could even speak, her lower lip trembled and a strangled gasp escaped from lips, and soon tears started to stream down her face.

"Aya? What's wrong?" he asked in worry, taking her face in his hands and wiped her tears with his thumb. "Aya?"

Her shoulders shook as she tried to stop her cries, but instead they began to turn into sobs. Quickly, he brought her into his arms and let her bury her face to his chest, muffling the sobs that broke Taro's heart. He started rubbing her back, trying to help her calm down.

Aya wasn't supposed to be like this. Crying didn't fit her, unless she's crying about that absurd movie she made them watch. Ayame wasn't supposed to be crying at all.

He directed his gaze at the silver SUV that brought her home and met eyes with the driver. He glared at _him_. Dominic, for his part, seemed to be guilty for making her like this. He could see it from his eyes. He was sure now that he was the reason why Ayame was sobbing uncontrollably. But Taro didn't even let him come down to do anything. He only closed the door slowly to let him that he wasn't welcome, and God knows how much pain he'll bring to that bastard for making her cry like this.

He swore that he will never make her cry like this again.

He leaned against the closed door as he tried soothing her again, but Ayame only clung to his shirt tighter and her shoulders shook even more violently. Seeing her like this was breaking his heart.

Slowly he felt the both of them slipping down as he tried soothing her more; Ayame still held onto his shirt, but her cries didn't waiver, it was as if they only became stronger.

"Taro?" Marie's worried voice drifted to his ears. She peered out of the living room. "Is everything oka- mon Dieu! What's wrong?" She quickly went to where they were, kneeling beside Ayame as she started rubbing her back in soothing circles.

Taro turned to her and only shook his head, tightening his hold on her.

Soon, Louis joined them, probably hearing the commotion. All three of them tried to their best to calm her down, but it didn't seem to be working.

Soon, Ayame's hold on his shirt lessened and her shoulders didn't shake as much anymore and he felt her slump her forehead against his chest, and finally Taro could release a relieved sigh from his lips.

Seeing him sigh, Marie got to work immediately.

"Iris?" she started calmly. "Ma chere? How about we get you changed out of those clothes? I'm sure you're just dying to get out of that stuffy dress and into comfortable clothes. And those shoes, mon Dieu, those must killing your feet at this time."

Slowly, Ayame stood with her as she sniffed. Her shoulders stiff shook, but Taro was sure she was trying to hard not to cry again.

He could only stare at her back as Marie led her upstairs, soothing her with her words as they disappeared into Ayame's room.

"Do you know what happened?" Louis asked him quietly.

Taro only shook his head. "I only opened the door and she started crying," he answered. "When I looked at the guy in his car, he seemed to know what happened. I'm even sure he was the reason why Aya was like this."

He felt his hands clench into fists. "I swear though, the bastard won't ever make her again. I won't let him."

He heard Louis whistle from beside him. "Remind me not to get on your bad side," he remarked.

Taro scowled at him with displeasure. Louis only shrugged and went back to the living room.

He sighed and went to the kitchen. He started to prepare some hot chocolate for Aya. For sure she wanted to some after such an event. It was the least he could do.

As he was going upstairs with a mug of the sweet drink, he met Marie who had a worried look on her face.

"She didn't say anything," Marie told him, "or well, she wouldn't. I didn't want to push her. Maybe she'll tell it to you."

With that, Marie continued down the stairs and joined Louis in the living room.

Sighing, he went up the stairs and continued to Ayame's room. He stopped just outside, taking this time to observe how she was doing.

She was sitting on the bed, already under the covers but her back was propped up against the pillows. Her hair was gone from their elegant curls and instead was put into one single braid down her back. She was staring at a spot on the wall, her chocolate eyes missing the shine he was used to seeing in them.

Taking a deep breath, he went in.

"Hey," he said softly. Ayame turned to his direction, blinking before giving him a tight-light lipped smile.

He moved to stand beside her bed. "I brought you hot chocolate," he said, trying to brighten her spirits. She only gave him a nod.

"Thanks," she said. "You can just set it on the table. I can drink it later" He followed her instructions, but he was starting to get more concerned for her. She never passed up hot chocolate.

Ayame moved to side, taking the signal, he sat down beside her. When he was settled, Ayame immediately set her head on his shoulder and released a deep breath.

Without him knowing, his hand entwined with hers and there was a thought in the back of his mind how they fit perfectly, but it didn't last long when he felt her hold him tightly.

"You," he started, keeping his eyes to the wall against them. "You want to talk about it."

"Not really," she answered honestly. "I kind of just want to sit here and stare at the wall, you know."

No he didn't know.

"Okay," he heard himself say. And then they were covered in silence.

He didn't know long they stayed together like that. He only knew how her hand grasped his firmly as his thumb rubbed soothing circles on her hands. He just knew that Ayame needed this, and that was all that mattered to him.

He took a quick glance at the clock and decided, even if it he didn't really want to, that it was time for him to leave and let her rest.

"I should leave," he said, slowly untangling himself from her. "You should sleep. You had a long day." He was about to stand up but he suddenly felt her grab his wrist.

"Wait," she exclaimed. He turned to her, puzzled.

She bit her bottom lip, looking away from him. "Can you-" she said. "Would you-"

She then looked at him, a soft blush on her cheeks. "Can you stay here? J-just for tonight?"

He stared at her surprise, not expecting her request.

"Okay," he heard himself say again. Slowly, Ayame loosened his grip on her as he repeated more softly, "Okay."

Gingerly he slipped under the covers with her. He could feel Ayame's eyes on him, and he could feel his heart beat loudly against his chest. He turned off the bedside lamp and slowly turned to face her, and even against the darkness of the room, Taro could clearly see her.

He wrapped his arms around her as she sought out his touch, and once she was settled, Ayame didn't even realize she was already asleep.

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AN: lol what

yeah thanks for reading. see you sometime


	22. It's Much too Strong

AN: because i can

**Guest-** hey thanks! glad your enjoying my writing

**HimeKanata-** lol, i took a vacation in manila, that's where i have been, visiting the fam. misaki's already _the_ boyfriend(tm), he just doesnt know it yet. ayame has a lot of stuff hidden, she just keeps them in, like the heavy stuff, so she was bound to explode sooner or later. she has a lot of stuff going on and this was one of them. at least, she was willing to open up now tho. anyways. thank you so much for saying im a good writer. personally, i think i still have lots to learn, but still it means a lot when people tell me i write good :). thanks again and keep reading and reviewing!

**Sanae fan-**aw, you're making me blush! thanks for telling me that. That made my day. thanks for the idea about little dominic and azumi. its a good idea, but i dont what im going to do with them yet. we'll see where the story takes me. thanks for always reading and reviewing!

yeah i dont own captain tsubasa

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Chapter 22: It's Much Too Strong

He felt the sunlight shine down upon his skin, waking him up abruptly from his sleep. He groaned silently and blinked, letting his eyes adjust to the light. He tried to move, but instead someone snuggle to him further, a comfortable warmth closing on his chest. He looked down with squinted eyes, trying to figure out who was on his. He blinked his eyes until it stopped being blurred and once he finally got them focused, he widened them when he realized who exactly was sleeping soundly on him.

Ayame's cheek fell on his chest, right over his heart. He could feel her steady breaths brushing him, telling him that she was still asleep. Her arm was wrapped on his waist, clinging onto him as if she her place was right beside him. There were stray strands of her hair that was beginning to free itself from her hair and he didn't even notice his hand move on its own to brush them from her face.

He moved to lay on his back, laying his arm on his forehead as he ran through his memories.

How did they end up like this? Last time he remembered, he was about to leave her room to let her rest, he didn't remember…

Oh right, she asked him to stay the night with her.

Taro felt his face heat up. He couldn't believe how easily he agreed to sleep with her. Granted this wasn't the first time they slept together like this before, but still… The act seemed so intimate that it was enough to send little bits of giddiness and happiness to his body.

And if he was going to be honest, he could get used to this. Waking up just to see her sleeping face first thing in the morning was a nice way to spend the first rays of the sun.

He turned back to look to her, smiling as she continued to breathe evenly in sleep. His hand brushed strands of her hair again, putting them behind her ear before his hand traced the side of her face. He set it softly on her cheek, caressing her gently. He left his thumb run through her lips softly, careful not to wake her up.

Ayame shuffled for a little bit, making him retract his hand from her suddenly. She snuggled closer to him and once she finally found a comfortable spot, she released a content sigh and smiled, her eyes never opening.

Taro found himself smiling and ran his hand through her hair. He moved to sit and have his back lean on the bed's headboard, careful not to wake her up. Once he was settled, he went back to petting her hair, listening as she continued her sleep.

He heard someone knocking on the door, and he turned to look at it just in time to see Marie open the door slowly.

"Oh!" She exclaimed in surprise. Taro put a his finger in front of his lips, casually telling her to stay quiet for the girl in his arms. Marie nodded and mouthed "food" to him and directly pointed downwards, informing him that breakfast was already for them and they could come down whenever they wanted. Taro nodded back and watched as Marie slowly moved away from the door, silently closing it once more.

He stared at the door for a few more moments before a sudden movement beside him made him look down. Ayame snuggled closer to him and he thought she was about to wake up. It didn't take long for him to be proven right as she slowly blinked her eyes open.

She gingerly looked up to face him, blinking owlishly as she stared at him.

"You're not my pillow," she remarked calmly.

"No," he replied with the same tone. "No I am not."

"Oh," she said, turning away from him and to lay on her back. He watched her closely as she laid one of her arms on her stomach while she kept her eyes on the ceiling.

Then she groaned and smacked her face in with her hand.

"I thought it was a dream," she mumbled behind her hand. "I thought I only asked you to stay with me in a dream."

Taro smiled and turned his body to face her, his hand supporting his head with his hand that was propped on his elbow. "Well, as you can see," he drawled, lazily drawing circles on her shoulder with his free hand, "it's not a dream."

She groaned again, earning a chuckle from him,

"That means everything that happened yesterday was true," she mumbled with a despaired voice.

Taro's face stoned from hearing her. He didn't know whether she just slipped, or she thought he didn't hear her, or she just really gave no fucks on who heard her.

He went back to drawing circles on her shoulder. "Want to talk about it?" he asked, trying to sound casually as possible. He hoped she was, because if she wasn't, he might have to take drastic measures. He hated seeing her like this, hated her being so down because of this guy.

Ayame turned to him in curiosity, and maybe a bit of panic, but she quickly turned away and sighed.

"No," she breathed, "no. It's- it's stupid. From what I told him, he should probably leave me alone. There isn't any point in talking about it anymore."

That didn't mean she was okay with it now. He could still see how much she was distraught over it.

"Yeah right," he snorted. "I know you more than I've ever known anyone, except maybe my father, and I know when something's still bothering you."

She gave him a small glare before looking away from him. "I am _fine_," she said. "Now leave me alone. I'm hungry."

Taro narrowed his eyes and tightened his jaw. Why did she have to be so stubborn?

As Ayame tried to get up from the bed, he threw an arm around her and pulled her back on the bed, all the while not really moving from his position.

Ayame made a whining noise and turned around to face him with an exasperated expression.

"Let me go," she whined. "I'm hungry."

"You're not leaving this bed until you tell me what happened," he said. Ayame only rolled her eyes and huffed, struggling to get away from his hold. Taro meanwhile, only tightened his hold on her.

That continued on for a while, Ayame still struggling to get away from him, Taro still not letting her go. And once she still didn't want to give up, he took his head off from where it was on his hand to lay face down on the pillow, _her_ pillow. He managed to catch a sniff of her smell on the pillow and he couldn't help but take another deep breath, savoring her unique aroma of peaches and cream. Meanwhile, Ayame was now struggling to take his whole arm off of her.

"Taro," she whined again, looking at him over her shoulder with a pleading look on her face. "You're heavy, and I'm really really hungry."

He moved his head to peer at her, the pillow hiding the smile on his face. "Not unless you tell what happened yesterday. You're not the only one who's hungry here you know."

"Then let me leave so we can eat," she countered with an annoyed tone.

"Not until you begin telling what really happened," he replied just as strongly as she did.

Ayame pursed her lips in a tight line and turned to finally face all of him, staring at his eyes defiantly why he looked down on her with the same intensity.

They stared at each other for a long while, before she finally sighed and laid her forehead on his shoulder.

"I hate you, you know," she mumbled softly. Taro quirked one corner of his lips before fully turning to her and embraced her softly.

Both of them were enveloped in a soft silence, their breathing the only thing they could hear in the room. Until Ayame finally broke the silence.

"He- Dominic," she gulped, "Dominic was my ex. The only ex." Taro moved her so she was laying her forehead on his chest than on his shoulder.

"We started dating in our junior year, and we- we were happy," she said quietly, this time, her turn to draw circles on his chest.. "At least I thought we were. I mean, I had fun being his girlfriend. We went on dates, we went on trips together, went to homecoming, football games, cheered him on his hockey matches; we were almost always together."

Taro didn't speak, almost feeling a little jealous of how much time he got to spend time with her.

"I fell in love with him," she confessed quietly, laying her hand on his chest. "I loved him. I really did." He felt him suddenly bunch up her shirt in her fist, and she was starting to shake lightly. "It was foolish of me to already feel this way, but I was ready- ready to spend my life with him. I don't know why I thought of such a naive thing, but I just suddenly thought that marrying him would be the best thing to happen to me. I was stupid enough to willingly gave him my whole heart and I didn't even realize that he didn't want it."

At this point, Taro wanted nothing more than to stop her in continuing, not just for her but for him as well. Knowing that she loved Dominic this much only made his heart hurt like never before.

Before he even tell her that it was okay if she wanted to stop, but she was already continuing.

"It was prom of our senior year," she said, her voice quivering slightly. "I wasn't just preparing for it, I was- I was preparing for more. I was," she paused, taking a deep breath, "I was ready to finally sleep with him."

Taro felt himself gulp, not exactly looking forward to what she was going to say.

"And I did," she said quietly. "After prom we went to _Saint Regis_ and spent the night there, one of the rare times when he used his parents' money. I knew that he already had experience with his past relationships, and I was such a newbie at this whole thing, but he never made fun of me. It was- it was an amazing night."

She then held onto his shirt tighter and Taro began to stroke her hair gently.

"I thought that this would only make us closer, that our relationship would be stronger than ever. After all, sex was supposed to be the most intimate thing a couple could do. We should have been the happiest couple in school," then he heard her chuckle mirthlessly. "That didn't seem to be the case at all. In fact, it wasn't even as close as I thought it was."

Her voice dropped down, and all of the sudden she began to shake was once. "He's- he was cheating on me!" she said loudly, a sob following afterwards. Taro immediately tightened his hold on her, letting her muffle her cries on his chest. "For six months, he's been fucking around with all these girls, making a fool out of me as he slept with almost everyone in school."

Her grip on his shirt tightened once more, her shoulders shaking erratically. Taro could only stroke her and kissed her head, offering the only comfort he could think of.

"And everyone else knew," she continued, crying still. "Even Ayu knew, and tried to tell me, but I was so stupid enough to believe in him, to believe that he would never do such a thing. I only started to face the truth when Megan told me that he's been fucking Allison and everyone else behind my back."

He heard her take a deep breath and take a gulp before going on.

"And when I confronted him, he didn't even deny it," she was wailing at this point, and Taro began to rock her in his arms, trying to make her feel better. "I was so stupid Taro! So stupid to fall in love with a guy who didn't even love me as much as I loved him. So so stupid!" she kept repeating. Taro tried to shush her, trying to tell her that she was not stupid, far from it.

Ayame began to finally sob uncontrollably, burying her face on his chest and cried and cried. Taro only let her while still running his head through her hair, kissing her the top of her head and comforting her.

She continued to cry for a while, until finally her shoulders began to shook less and her cries turned into small hiccups.

"I hate this," she remarked once she was finally calm down. He could hear her sniff her nose and slowly separated from his chest. "I hate what he did to me. I couldn't move on for him after four years, couldn't even find a guy because my heart was afraid to get hurt again. Now, he even wants to get back together with me."

"Are you?" Taro found himself asking before he could think about it.

Ayame's eyes softened. "No," she said quietly. "I- I don't think so. It still hurts, knowing what he did to me."

Taro only hummed to say he heard her, and both of them was covered into another silence, breathing quietly.

"Thank you," she mumbled softly, "for- for listening. I needed that."

Taro only shrugged. "It's time I returned the favor." If it wasn't for her, he didn't know how in the world he could have moved on from Azumi.

There was a small smile on her lips before she moved away from his arms to sit up on the bed and looked down to his shirt. "Sorry I ruined your shirt with my snot. I buy you a new one, I promise."

He followed suit and sat up, looking down on his shirt before shrugging once more and began to take it off. "It's fine," he said, once he was out of it. "It's not like it's special."

Ayame suddenly looked away from him, a small blush painted on her cheeks. Taro didn't seem to notice.

"What do you mean it's not special?" she demanded. "That's like a _Valentino_ shirt! How can you treat that as nothing?"

"Well, I don't know!" he exclaimed. "You forced me to get this when you dragged me shopping last week."

Ayame only rolled her eyes and began to stand up from the bed. "Oh my god," she muttered under her breath. "Men. Not appreciating fashion… Unc-"

Taro blocked out the rest of what she said, but he couldn't help but smile. She was finally back to her normal self, and he was grateful. Being unhappy didn't suit, and hearing her be like this was all he ever wanted for her.

But….

"Do you still love him?" he suddenly blurted out without thinking.

Ayame paused from where she stood, just right out of the door. She stood there for a few moments, and Taro felt like he was an idiot for asking such a thing.

"No," she answered suddenly. Taro looked up to her in surprise, his eyes wide.

"No," she repeated with more confidence. "My heart belongs to someone else now."

He stared at her and gulped, a question on the tip of his tongue but she suddenly turned to him with a brightest smile on her face.

"Come on, hotshot," she called out, her familiar nickname to him sounding so warm coming from her. "Let's go eat. I'm starving."

Taro could only feel his heart beat strongly against his ribs as he watched her leave the room.

End Chapter

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AN: yehahahahahaha...hahaha...haha...ha *falls faced down on the floor*

thanks for reading and pls review

bye


	23. Get Me Right in the Heart

AN: today's featured song is Torpedo by Jillette Johnson.

**Sone-** yup this is Ayame's and Taro's story. though its different from WOS. if you want to read a ff about Aya and Taro thats part of the WOS universe, So This is Love is the story for you :)))))

**Harukachan** here is the update for you my darling

**HimeKanata** awww i miss you too 3. i have big plans for the confession part hehehehe, but sadly it is not in this chapter. it will be soon tho. i hope

yeah i dont own captain tsubasa

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Chapter 23: Get Me Right in the Heart

He always liked her taste in music. Even if he didn't really listen that much, he could at least figure out what he liked and he didn't like. It's a good thing that he liked listening to what she played, or else he wouldn't give the aux cord to her ever again.

Besides, he loved hearing her sing or hum to the song under her breath.

Though, right now she wasn't humming or singing, choosing instead to chat with him as he drove through the freeway. They were going home from their short respite in the Dupont's summer home. And Taro felt that Ayame couldn't wait to leave. From all the things that happened, she probably didn't want to be back to St. Malo in a while. As much as she loved Marie, St. Malo didn't exactly bring any good memories for her. Maybe someday, she'll go back there without being bothered by all the events that occurred.

Taro seemed like he couldn't wait to get away as well. When she pointed it out, he only shrugged and said that his dad was coming back soon, and he wanted to prepare his apartment for him. Ayame didn't believe it one bit. She knew that wasn't the main reason he wanted to leave, and He would always be irritated whenever she pointed that tidbit out, so she just gave up in getting it out of him. He could be really stubborn when he wanted to be.

At least, they both agreed that St. Malo was becoming a little suffocating for them.

Ayame was in the middle of telling Taro one of her misadventures with Ayuri in Disney World, when suddenly the song playing on her phone faded to sound her message tone before fading in and continuing the song.

She knitted her eyebrows in confusion as Taro gave him a glance from the corner of his eye before turning back to the road.

Who would text her today? Marie told her that she'd be busy cleaning the house with Louis, so it couldn't be her, and it was too early for Ayu to be texting her. Sanae was probably busy screwing around with Tsubasa to even bother texting her, and her parents would rather call than text her because texting took too much time away from their work.

Gingerly taking her phone from her lap, she looked at the screen just to see Megan sent her a direct message on _Twitter_.

_Hey I know I'm one of the least person you want to talk to you right now, but as Dominic's friend (and hopefully yours too)_

Ayame refrained from snorting. Sure, maybe she could consider Megan as a friend, but considering that she's closer to the person she really disliked right now, she's fine being close acquaintances for now.

_I feel like I have to ask what happened._

Ayame narrowed her eyes. It was none of her business what happened between them, whether she was friends with Dominic or not.

_Dominic and Ben don't know I'm doing this._

Ayame gave her more time to continue, waiting for her to explain why she was doing this whole thing behind their backs.

_I already know that something's wrong with the two of you. I have to be blind to not see it._

Then why was she still asking then?

_You might think that I took a side between the two of you, but I'm not. Not until I hear you're side of the story._

She took a deep breath and stared deeply at her phone, the tune of Jilllette Johnson's "Torpedo" playing softly through Taro's speakers.

She didn't want Megan to choose. She never did, and although she really didn't want to see them, she didn't want friendships to break because of this, because of her. She might have only seen Ben and Megan for a short time, but she knew they were happy together. And knowing how close Ben was to Dominic, she was sure that he would side with him, no matter how wrong Dominic was.

But Megan- Megan was a wild card. She didn't know what she would do. On one hand, she was the one who told her of Dominic's cheating, but like everyone else, she knew it right as Dominic slept with the first girl he fooled around with. She knew what was going on, and she let it happen for a long time, only telling her when they were ending high school.

But still, telling her still meant that she cared about her, right?

Releasing a sigh, she began to tap on the screen of her phone.

_FIne,_ she answered, _Meet me at Cafe Jacqueline_ _tomorrow at 10. Don't bring anyone. If I don't see you there in five minutes, I'm leaving and not meeting with any of guys ever again._

It didn't take long for the loading bubble to appear and she waited until Megan finally gave her an answer.

_Okay. I'll be there._

Ayame took a deep breath once more, releasing it as she looked outside of the car, locking her phone and let it settle on her lap.

She didn't even feel Taro's hand lacing his fingers between hers and squeezed her hand tightly.

She didn't even notice she squeezed back.

_Do your worst_

* * *

He didn't know what made him suddenly want to hold her hand in his. It's just that, whenever he took a glance from her ever since she got that weird message, she's been upset and he hated it when she was upset. And whenever she replied back, her taps became more forceful, as if she was becoming angry. He didn't know what those messages said, but judging from those expressions on her face, he knew she didn't like any of it.

So when she finally locked her phone, he immediately sought out her free hand and held it, trying to comfort her in some way.

He didn't know how long they held hands, but when he reached the first stoplight that was going into Paris, he turned to look at her just to see her head leaning on the with her eyes closed as her chest rose steadily in her sleep.

His hand was still tucked in hers, her fingers tightly filling the spaces in between his.

He brought their hands to his lips and laid a tender kiss on the back of hers. He gently pried his own from it and pushed back strands of her hair from her face. Ayame softly took a deep breath and fidgeted before sighing with a smile and returning back to sleep.

He smiled once more and returned his eyes to face the road, just as the light turned green. He stepped on the gas and drove towards home, a soft tune coming from his speakers, right from her phone.

When he parked, he heard Ayame stir beside him and just as he turned, he saw her blinking her eyes open, before finally focusing as she stared in front of her.

"Hi," he greeted her. Ayame blinked once more before saying anything.

"Hi," she greeted back, turning to look at him slowly. "I didn't notice we're already here."

"Well," he said as he turned off the engine and unbuckled his seatbelt. "You were sound asleep. I doubt you would have noticed anything." Then, giving her a mischievous look, he added, "I think you were drooling too."

"I do not!" she gasped and pulled down the the passenger mirror and searched her face for dry drool. Taro couldn't help the snickers to come out of his mouth when she realized that it wasn't true.

"You're such an asshole!" Ayame tried to smack him with her hand, but he quickly got out of his seat before she could land a hit on him.

He couldn't help the smile on forming on his face while he heard her muffled swears and curses as he went to the trunk, opening it to grab their things.

"One day, Misaki Taro," he heard her say. Seemed like she was out of the car. "One day, I will get back at you."

"But not today," he replied as he pulled out her bag out of the trunk. She opted to get their other things that was inside the car.

"One day!" she said as he took the time to look at her as she leaned into the car, busy trying to grab their stuff.

She didn't even realize that she had her ass sticking out.

Not that he was complaining. Her white shorts really brought out the shape of her ass, and man her legs. He could just imagine them wrapped around him…

"Oh fuck," she suddenly swore and Taro snapped out of his thoughts just to see her slump on the car seat.

"Owww," she whined. "Taro help me," she said. "I can't carry it…"

He couldn't help the chuckle to escape his lips as he decided to help her. He might as well. This was going to take forever if he didn't.

"This doesn't even weigh anything," he said to her as he got the bag that she was struggling to grab.

"Well sue me," she exclaimed. "Not only am I short, but I also apparently don't have upper arm strength."

Taro only smiled and patted her head. "Hey," he said, looking at her tenderly. "You might have less than average height, but you have more talent than anyone I know."

Ayame looked at him with wide eyes, before her cheeks turned pink and made a move to head butt him on the chest.

"Oh my god, you are such a nerd!" she exclaimed as she hid her face on his chest. Then he felt her clutch his shirt and heard her mutter a soft "thanks."

Taro only smiled and wrapped an arm around her.

"I can't make breakfast tomorrow morning by the way," she told him as they got into the elevator. "I'm meeting with a friend at _Cafe Jacqueline_ at 10."

"Okay," Taro answered, looking through his phone. Apparently his dad was coming home tomorrow. "You want me to drop you off there? Pick you up?"

"I'm good," she answered, ruffling her hair as she used the metal of the elevator as a makeshift mirror, just as he put his phone back in his pocket.

Damn it, he forgot just how much that affected him. Something about her hair just made him crazy.

"Okay," he answered, looking away from her reflection.

"Thanks for the offer though," she said, brushing a lock of her hair behind her ear. She turned to him just as the elevator doors opened for them. Taro will never get tired of seeing her smiles.

They got out of the elevator as Ayame started to tell him of her plans for tomorrow, aside from her brunch with her friend. Apparently she was going to do laundry after her meeting, saying that it was better to do the chores right away before it got bad. She offered to do his and Taro of course said no, but Ayame, being as stubborn as he was, wouldn't take no for an answer. He couldn't do anything but sigh and let her be.

"So I'll probably just grab your stuff before you leave for your afternoon practice," she said, standing in front of her door as he stood in front of his. "I should be done by 11:30 and you leave by 1:00 right? I should have time to make a light lunch for us."

"No, it's fine," he answered, waving his hand. "I can just grab something to eat somew-"

"Or I could just grab some food for you there!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands together and totally ignored him. "What would you like?" She turned to him, a smile on her face.

Well, time with her for one.

"Nothing," he emphasized. "Really, Aya I'll be okay."

"No, wait, I'll bring you back some muffins and coffee," she decided. Taro tried to interrupt once more, but it fell on deaf ears. She did have some kind of selective hearing when she wanted to.

"Yup," she decided. "I'll get muffins."

Knowing that he wouldn't be able to win at all, Taro could only and gave a resigned smile.

It was a nice feeling, knowing that she cared about him.

...Azumi never really showed him that quite of concern. Sure, maybe at the beginning, but it wasn't as heartfelt as Ayame's was.

"I'll see you tomorrow then!" she said, opening her door. Taro nodded and turned to his own apartment, grabbing his keys from his pockets. As he was about to put in his eyes, he heard her cry out.

"Oh!" she exclaimed. "I almost forgot."

Before Taro could even turn around to face her, he suddenly felt soft lips press onto her cheek for a few seconds before they were gone as fast as they appeared.

Whipping around with a question on lips, he couldn't even say it because her door was already closed, Ayame no where in his sight.

Taro could only face her door with wide eyes as his fingers gently grazed the spot where her lips met his cheek.

And on the other side of the door, Ayame could only lean her back against the door, her cheeks flush and a hand on her chest.

They knew they couldn't deny it anymore, but they were already made a home each other's hearts.

End Chapter


	24. Can't Help Faliing

AN: hehehehehe

**Sone-** i dont know about the confessing part. it'll be a long way since that will happen. i mean they did that admit that they like each other so... yeah. thanks for reading and reviewing!

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Chapter 24: Can't Help Falling

She didn't want to be here, she really didn't. She didn't even know why she suggested this whole thing in the first place.

She couldn't even spend the morning with Taro...

Which she didn't exactly know if that was good thing or a bad thing. She didn't know what made her do that. Someone didn't have to be a detective to figure out that her kiss on his cheek was less than platonic. She had her lips on him for more than three seconds! You don't kiss a friend on the cheek for more than three seconds! That's like breaking friend etiquette 101. Taro must hate her by now.

Groaning, she put her head on the table, hoping for the world to swallow her up.

Why did she have to fall in love with her best friend?

"Are you… okay?"

She suddenly rose from her position just to see Megan looking down at her with worry in her eyes.

"Oh yeah," she answered quickly, straightening herself. "Just you know, tired from the drive last night. We got home late…" she laughed nervously as she took her cup of coffee closer to her mouth, trying to find a way to hide her embarrassment for being in such a pitiful situation.

"Are you sure?" she asked again.

"Positive," she nodded. Megan looked at her weirdly before finally believing her and gingerly slid in the seat across from her.

"This is a nice place…" Megan noted as she looked around. A waitress, noticing her, gave her another set of the menu. Ayame only hummed as she took a sip of her coffee, refusing to look at her. It was still a little awkward between them, and she didn't know when it won't be

"It's one of first cafe I found here in Paris, and they certainly don't disappoint," she said.

Megan smiled as she watched Iris look outside the window, watching Parisian people go about their business. She couldn't help but see why Dominic would like her. Sure, she had always been pretty, but there was just something with her that made everyone who saw her fall in love with her. With just the way she moved, the way her hair fell in front of her, and the way she would elegantly brushed it behind her ear, the way she smiled… There was something special in her that everyone realized but her.

And for that same reason, she could not figure out why the fuck Dominic cheated on her.

They were the envy of their whole high school, and most of them were convinced that they'd be the perfect high school sweethearts that they see would in movies, having that perfect balance of fun and love all of them yearned to have. Iris, even though she had different interests, still provided time to go to whatever Dominic wanted, and in turn, Dominic would be with her every time she wanted to go shopping or whatever she felt like doing.

Megan would confess she was jealous, not of Iris, but by their relationship. Almost all girls did. They weren't the kind of couple who flaunted their relationship, but every time they held hands, or every time people saw them kiss when they thought nobody was looking, the secret looks they shared between them…

The smile on Iris's face whenever she looked at him.

They were perfect. At least that's what they thought. At least that's what Iris thought.

Maybe that was why for that reason, Megan had to tell her everything Dominic was doing behind her back.

A girl like Iris, who was so true and just so damn _amazing_ didn't deserve to be treated that way. She deserved to be treated better, the best.

But… it pained her too to see Dominic so broken. She never knew what happened after she told Iris what Dominic did, except she knew that they broke up. Only when she began dating Ben did she find out that Dominic never really did get over that break-up, that on the day she told Iris the truth, was the day he decided to break things off with all the girls he hooked up with. That he was going to devote himself to Iris, and solely for Iris. Something happened between them that Prom Night, he said. And somehow that was the time Dominic realized that he would be an idiot to let her go.

Except he was already too late because he already let her go even before he made that realization.

She also found out that Dominic resented her for a while for what she done. If only she hadn't told Iris, both of them would still be together. She was sure that even if they went to different colleges, they would still be going strong, and once they graduated, they would get married and live a happily ever after.

It made Megan feel guilty, knowing how much Dominic was still in love with Iris. If it wasn't for her, maybe they would have been together, and she would be sitting across an Iris who would have a diamond band on her finger on her left hand, calmly sipping her coffee like a wife of a rich man.

It could still happen right? Dominic wanted her back, and he was willing to fight for her.

Except, Iris didn't want to come back.

Megan really thought she would. After all, in the relationship, Iris seemed to be so in love with Dominic, so ready to spend her life beside him. Wasn't it that when you love someone so much, you would forgive them, no matter what they did?

Megan didn't know if she could, but she thought Iris would. Apparently, she was wrong.

Iris wasn't as forgiving as they all thought they would be.

If only she was, Dominic wouldn't probably try to kill himself by poisoning his liver. If only she was back in his life, Megan still wouldn't feel guilty, even though it was the right thing to do. If only Iris accepted them back in her life.

She observed Iris as she put her cup down to look at her phone that just beeped. With just a glance, it only brought a smile on her face.

If only she didn't fall in love with someone new...

Somehow everything finally made sense to Megan.

"I see…" she mumbled softly as Iris looked up from her phone, in the middle of replying to the text she just received.

"Huh?" Iris asked dumbly, blinking her eyes owlishly.

Megan couldn't help the chuckle to escape her lips.

"You're in love," she said directly, crossing her legs as she propped her chin on her hand to lean forward.

Immediately, Iris's face began to turn red as she accidentally dropped her phone on the table, stuttering apologies and expletives as she tried to apologize for the sudden racket she made.

"I-wha-how?" she stuttered after she got herself together, a little bit.

So she wasn't wrong…

"It's not that hard to see," Megan answered teasingly. "Your smile tells a lot about you, you."

Iris could only duck and hide her red face.

Megan softened her eyes. "The only time I saw that smile was when you and Dominic were still together."

Slowly, Iris's face fell, her eyes looking the spark they usually had.

"Is that so..." she asked, looking down to her coffee, cradling it with her arms.

"Is that why you don't want to get back together with Dominic?" Megan asked softly, waiting for her answer.

Iris continued to stare at her coffee, before she finally produced a resigned smile.

"That's one part of it…" she admitted, looking out of the window once more. "I just… couldn't see myself with Dominic anymore."

Then a pained look entered her face. "Being with him… just became painful. After… after everything."

"You still haven't forgiven him, huh?"

"Maybe…" Iris answered vaguely. "I don't even know if I ever can." She produced a humorless laugh. "I don't know if anyone can. Imagine, hearing about your boyfriend hooking up with other girls behind your back from someone else. From you…"

Megan winced at her statement.

"You know, Dominic told me that the day I talked to you was the day he vowed to just love you, and only you. He called off everything one week before," Megan tried to explain. "He was changing for you."

Iris turned to her, another resigned smile on her face. "Well, he changed just a little bit too late. Besides," she looked down, "I would have probably figured out sooner or later."

"Maybe…" Megan said, softening her eyes. "Would you forgive him?"

"Who knows?" Iris answered with a sigh, turning to look out of the window.

And that was all the answer Megan needed.

"Can I ask one last question?" she said. Iris looked at her from the corner of her eyes, and Megan took that as a gesture for her to continue.

"The guy you're in love with," she began. "Is it the guy that I saw on your Instagram, the night we were all together…" and if what she saw this morning on the news was right… "the soccer player?"

Immediately, a change happened to Iris. Her eyes softened, her shoulders relaxed, her lips curved into the most beautiful smile Megan ever saw. It was the smile of a person happily in love.

Megan didn't need an answer.

"Yeah," Iris answered simply as the rays of the sun fell on her like a halo, her cheeks flushing pink. "Yup. It's him."

Megan looked at her for a few more moments, taking in the image of a person so in love they seemed to be glowing. Soon, a smile broke on her face and she couldn't help but let out a chuckle.

"I guess they were right after all," she said.

Ayame turned to look at her with knitted eyebrows. Who was right?

"Who?"

Megan suddenly stopped her giggles and looked at her confusedly.

"You mean, you haven't seen?" she asked.

What was she talking about?

"Seen what?" Ayame said.

Megan stared and blinked at her owlishly. "You know, the news about you and your soccer star?"

"What news?" Ayame asked in a panic. What the hell? What the fuck was going on? She didn't hear about any new gossip about them. And they've been very careful. Aside from her blunder with the IG picture, she didn't do anything else.

"Wait, here let me find it," Megan said as she grabbed her phone and began to scroll through it. Ayame felt sweat pooling behind her neck. She had a bad feeling about this.

"Here it is," Megan gave her phone. Ayame saw an article on one of the many tabloids on the internet. Already the headline was appalling.

_**TARO MISAKI: NEW GIRLFRIEND?**_

"_It seemed like Taro Misaki didn't waste anytime in finding a new lover after his unknown relationship with supermodel Azumi Hayakawa. The Paris Saint-Germain midfielder, usually very reserved when it comes to his private life, suddenly confirmed his hidden…"_

Ayame skipped some lines of the article, only talking about what Taro did over the last press conference. But in the middle of her skipping, her heart almost stopped when she suddenly saw a picture of him and her, with no kind of article to cover her face, in the middle of the article.

_Taro Misaki, and his apparent new girlfriend, Ayame Kiseki, exiting a cafe in a service are along A81. _

What the fuck? How the hell did they know her name? Her _real_ name. The one on her birth certificate.

She scrolled back up, trying to find where it all began, until she finally found where her name was mentioned.

"… _after much searching, we have finally concluded that the player's new sweetheart goes by the name of Ayame Kiseki. Not much is known about her, except sources say that she studies at the École de la Chambre Syndicale de la Couture. After looking through past photographs, we have also confirmed that she is the girl usually seen together with PSG's midfielder whenever they were out in Paris. _

"_...many people have confirmed that she was the one brought by Misaki to the Ligue Gala a few months ago…_

"_...other sources have also provided that she was the one Misaki was with when they visited his longtime friend and fellow Japanese teammate Tsubasa Ozora and his wife in Barcelona..._

"_...They have also been seen with fellow PSG teammate Louis Napoleon along with his best friend Marie Dupont in the latter's family vacation home in Saint Malo..._

"_Nothing has been said about the relationship of these two, but with how close they seem to be (and adorable mind you), we have no doubt that they are together."_

Then, as a slap in the face, they managed to snap a picture of when she was taking the selfie of her kissing him on the cheek from behind, making the context of the picture more romantic than she thought it would be.

Ayame stared at the end of the article for a long while, before groaning and planting her face on the table, to Megan's amusement.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"No," Ayame answered with a pained voice. "Taro's going to kill me."

"Why would he?" Megan asked with knitted eyebrows.

"Because!" Ayame raised her head to look at her. "This was not in the plan! I promised Taro we wouldn't ever get found out. We're not even dating yet!"

Not eve dati- what?

But she did say yet…

"And why would he kill you over that?" Megan asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Taro didn't want anyone to find out about me because he didn't want any paparazzi hounding me," Ayame sighed as she slumped on her seat. "He wanted me to have a normal life."

"That's cute," Megan cooed. "But he does know that your mom is a world renowned fashion designer right? You're used to to them."

"And that's what I told him," Ayame said. "Except, his paparazzi is way different than mom's. They're like animals, man. Like, if you see them, you would understand why Taro detests them. They're always on his tail. That's why he'd rather not bring me in such situations where basically I don't have anymore privacy."

"That's sweet of him," Megan said, and she was genuine about it. She didn't know of anyone as thoughtful as him.

"Look," she started. "If he's as nice as you make him out to be, I'm sure he's not going to get angry over this."

"I know he's not going to get angry," Ayame said. "I just… don't want him to worry about me. He already has a lot going on."

Wow, Megan didn't know if there was a couple more made for each other than they did.

"You guys are going to work this out," Megan tried to comfort her. "I know you guys can."

Ayame hoped so, she really did. Because she wouldn't know what would happen if he decided that he needed to stay away from her because of this.

She didn't want to admit it but, she wouldn't know what to do with her life without him.

* * *

He stared at the ceiling above him, mindlessly looking at it as he drowned in his thoughts. He didn't know why, but all of the sudden after he woke up, he found himself in her apartment. At first, he thought because he wanted a cup of her coffee. Her brand was the best he tasted after all, but when he came in, instead of heading to the kitchen, he went differently to her couch and laid down, grabbing a pillow and squeezed it to his face to inhale her scent. Immediately, he felt like he could stay there the whole day.

But he knew he can't. Practice was at one this afternoon (thank god for that. He slept like a rock after that long drive, plus with that kiss Ayame gave him… granted it was only on the cheek, but it was enough to make him like an idiotic high schooler in love. And the dreams…), so he allowed himself to wake up a little later than usual.

It was already 11:30 and he still hadn't done anything.

It's just that… being here on the couch, surrounded by Ayame's scent, and everything Ayame made him want to just stay here and spend life, his whole life right beside her.

He didn't think this was going to happen, that this one girl who just had to have the biggest heart leave a broken hearted man in front of his apartment, would find a place in his mended heart, a heart she mended. He didn't think that she would be able to help him, make him forget, make him feel love again.

As he looked around the room, he realized, he couldn't stop this from happening, couldn't help himself from falling in love with her.

He was in love with Kiseki Ayame, and that's the most beautiful thing he ever knew.

He heard the front door suddenly open and Taro finally got up from the couch just to see Ayame stroll in, a paper bag in her hands. He didn't know when it started, but somehow seeing her coming home had become something dear to his heart.

He was about to get and greet her, but stopped when he saw the expression on her face.

Her eyebrows were knitted together as she looked down as if she was worrying about something.

And Taro hated seeing her like that.

"You okay?" he asked.

Ayame jumped in surprise and whipped around to look at him, but she seemed to have moved too fast she took a step back and miscalculated that she fell backwards.

"Aya!" he exclaimed as he immediately ran to where she was.

"Oww," she moaned as she sat up, rubbing her back. Taro kneeled beside her, trying to see if she hit her head somewhere.

"Oh my god, Taro, don't do that!" she whined, still rubbing her back. "Are you trying to give me a heart attack because you almost succeeded.

"Hey, I'm sorry!" he apologized. "I didn't know you were in deep thought."

"Are you insulting my intelligence?" she demanded, leaning closer to him.

"What? No!" he answered. "I just- you're not that normally scatterbrained. I was just worried."

"Oh," she said, leaning away from him. "Oh. I see. I guess… I guess I was. Sorry."

Taro knitted his eyebrows in confusion. That was… easy. Usually, she'd throw a huge fit over something trivial like this.

Deciding to get to the bottom of this, he sat across from her, putting a hand on her chin to make her look at him.

"Okay, what's wrong?" he asked.

Ayame looked at him for a long while, her eyes conveying how she seemed to be conflicted about something. Suddenly, she sighed and looked down.

"Don't get mad," she pleaded.

"Why would I get mad at you?" Taro asked, puzzled. Did she do something?

"It's just that…" she bit her lip, turning to the side. "You know how you don't want paparazzi to figure us out, me specifically?"

"Yeah," he answered, becoming concerned. What's going on? Did they do something to her. He swore if they even touched a single strand of her hair, he was going to sue them, or even punch them. "What about them?"

"They kind of…" she lowered her voice. "Found out about us, well, me to be exact."

Taro froze. "What?"

"Megan, the friend I met this morning, showed me an article," she explained. "It was from one of those gossip websites, like the popular kind of true ones. Like, at first, it was just about you, you know with your relationship with Azumi and how they think you found a new girlfriend and how they thought it was me, the likes…"

Then she bit her lip once more.

"Except… they know its _me_. As in, they figured out my name and other kind of personal information about me…"

Taro stared at her, trying to process what she said. This was what he didn't want to happen.

"Can I see the article?" he asked quietly.

Ayame jumped again in surprise and began to rummage through her bag. "Oh, um let me just find it really quick," she said as she tapped on her phone. Taro waited for her patiently before she finally gave him her phone.

He read through the article silently, taking in word for word. Ayame could only watch anxiously, waiting for his reaction.

Taro couldn't believe how they managed to get her information that easily, intruding on her privacy with no care at all. They even snapped pictures of her with him without permission.

"I'm sorry," Ayame suddenly said, looking away from him. "I should have worn sunglasses or something. I knew that you didn't want them finding about me. Now, they won't stop bothering you even more."

"You're fine," he assured her as he returned her phone to her. "It's not your fault. I should have been more careful."

"Are you…" she peered up to him. "Do we need to stop seeing each other?"

"No," he answered with a weird look towards her. "Why should we?"

"I mean," she said, running her hand through her hair. "You did say that you don't to want them after me, and if you left, they wouldn't bother me. Plus, they'd think we're together…"

"Then we'll let them," he said. "And either way, they'll be after you because you've been with me for a long time now. Whatever we do, they'll follow and harass us."

"Are you sure?" she asked quietly.

Taro took her face with his hands and directed her to look at him.

"I'm not going to stop hanging out with you, okay?" he stared at her chocolate orbs intensely. "We're in this together, and not some dumb paparazzi will get in the way of our relationship." Then he gave her a smirk. "Besides," he said. "You can't get rid of me that easily."

Ayame stared at him with wide eyes, before she suddenly giggled.

"What are you laughing at?" he asked with a chuckle, caressing her cheek with his thumb.

"You said dumb," she replied. "It sounded weird."

"You're weird," he retorted. That only made her laugh even more, her giggles transforming into snickers and snorts. Taro stared at her incredulously before joining in with light chuckles.

He wasn't going to make the same mistake he did with Azumi, wouldn't be ashamed to show their relationship to the world.

Taro was done hiding, and Ayame was something that deserved to be shown to the world.

As he placed a chaste kiss on her head, there was one thought running through his head.

Someday, he'll be able to introduce her as the woman he wanted by his side forever.

End Chapter


	25. When You Are Close To Me

AN: school is hard. study hard kids

**HimeKanata-** lol they're getting bolder with their actions, but they're still far from confessing. one of them refuses to admit it, the other is ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯. but yeah, theyre getting there i promise

**Sone-** hey bud, thanks for reading. enjoy

* * *

Chapter 25: When You Are Close to Me

It's been a few days since the whole stupid article was released, and already it was taking a toll on him. Almost everywhere, paparazzi and reporters were following him. Every time he left his apartment, someone was constantly on his tail, even if he was in his car. He was almost close to running someone over when they got too close to his car just to get a look on who's with him inside. It was even more annoying when he had to pick up his dad from the airport to pick him up. And being his father, something like this didn't go past him. Which ultimately left him having to explain why there was more paparazzi than usual on his tail.

And instead of sympathizing with him, his father of course found it all amusing. Saying how it seemed like everyone else knew he had a girlfriend before him, and he should really introduce Ayame to him. He hasn't even seen her, he added.

So rolling his eyes, Taro just showed him a picture of Ayame to him from his phone. Well, pictures. His father just started scrolling through all of his pictures, which was chock full of selfies that Ayame took of the two of them whenever she felt like using his phone because apparently it's too empty.

"_Are you sure you guys really aren't?_" His father asked once he returned his phone. "_Because if I were them, I wouldn't know know too if you were serious or not. Those pictures would make anyone believe you guys are together_."

Taro chose not to reply to that, not because he believed that it was no use arguing with him, but he knew he was going to say something dumb like how much they wished they were.

It was true, but it didn't mean he wanted to admit it.

Ayame and his dad finally met each other when after he picked him up from the airport and she volunteered to cook, like she always did anyway. Of course, at this time, school already started for her, but she didn't seem to mind all the cooking, saying that she'd rather have them eat some home cooked meals than always eating out. He might be rich as hell, but that didn't mean he could always eat out. Beside, his dad was probably tired of eating out from all his traveling.

So he relented and when they arrived at his apartment after picking up his father from the airport, Ayame was finishing setting the table.

"_Okaeri!_" he remembered her smiling as she welcomed him back.

It was a peculiar sight, seeing her doing something like this. Peculiar, but it didn't fail to make him feel warm and happy.

His father came in and immediately noted the aroma of the food, complementing whoever cooked, and when he saw Ayame, a sly smile came over him and Taro knew he was in for an embarrassing night.

He was right. They hit it off right at the bat.

"_It's nice to finally meet the girl my son's been rumored to be dating,_" his father said as she shook hands with her. Ayame, even if her cheeks flushed a shade of pink, only laughed it out and made various jibes about him with his father, which he laughed at as well.

It was annoying, but at the same time, it brought him the same feeling of warmth and happiness from her welcoming him home.

Then dinner came and his father had to just turn to him from eating one bite of her roast beef and said, "_Taro if you don't start dating this girl, I will be severely disappointed in you. Not only is she pretty, but she can cook amazingly. Don't let her go._"

This time, Ayame certainly blushed as he started choking and she frantically ran to grab him a glass of water.

That wasn't the only time he choked throughout the night. And it's all because of his dad insinuating that they start going out, or dating, or _even married_.

He couldn't even get the courage to ask her out. Asking her to be his wife was way out of the question.

...At least, at this time anyway…

That happened throughout his father's stay at his home. Every single time all of them were together, he would make comments about how much they seemed so perfect for each other, and how they were already like a married couple with the way they move and act, it was just basically a huge embarrassment for both Taro and Ayame.

That's why even though he loved his dad, he couldn't help but feel relieved to see him go through the airport doors to leave for Japan. He loved his father and all, but sometimes, he could get a little overwhelming. Not to mention embarrassing.

He ran his hand through his hair as he went inside Ayame's apartment, sighing as his feet directed him towards the kitchen.

"Yikes," he looked up to see Ayame looking at him with a raised eyebrow, holding a plate of Parmesan Chicken in her hands. She was wearing just normal skinny jeans paired with a loose pink button up blouse. Pink ballet flats adorned her feet, and as always Taro noticed she seemed to be always dressed to impress. She just got home from school when he left with his father, and with their rush, he didn't notice what she was wearing.

It might have been a bad idea, because now he just wanted to pin her onto the table and shower kisses on her neck.

"What's up with you?" she asked as she put the plate on the table. "Missing daddy already?" she turned back to him with a teasing smile and God, how much did he want to kiss that away.

He scoffed, "No." He took a seat in one of the chairs as she took one across from him. "I'm relieved he was finally gone. Sure it was nice to have him with me, but I could without all the teasing from him. I'm really sorry about him. He's never been like that, honest. I just don't know what got into him that he couldn't stop trying to get us together."

"What did you expect?" she chuckled as she grabbed a piece of garlic bread from another plate. Taro started to help himself with the pasta. "He's a parent, and a dad at that. He's bound to start teasing you about the girl you're mostly with."

"He wasn't like this when I was with Azumi," he said as he passed her the bowl of pasta. "He usually just smiles and makes small talk with her."

"Maybe he just likes me better?" Ayame suggested, drizzling her pasta with the sauce. Taro took a piece of chicken before taking the bowl of sauce from her.

Well, she's not wrong. Taro already knew his father liked her even before they even met.

"Or maybe it's my cooking?" she added airily as she grabbed a piece of chicken as well. "I mean, they did say that a way to man's heart is through his stomach."

Not him though. She went straight to his heart without his notice.

"Did Azumi ever cook for your dad?"

"No," was his short answer. He was so busy cutting his food he didn't notice the surprise stare she gave him. "She's a disaster in a kitchen. I'm usually the done cooking between us. And since I don't usually have time-"

"Lazy," she interrupted with fake coughs. Taro glared at her before she finally went back to eating, a teasing smile on her lips.

"-we always end up getting take out or eating out," he finished.

"How in the world do you stay so healthy?" she asked as she pointed her fork at him. "Like, how often did you have to eat out before you met me?"

"It's not as bad as you're making it sound," He tried to defend himself. "I don't eat fast food, if that's what you're thinking."

"I don't care about that," she said. "Do you have any idea how much money you're spending?"

"I… I have money…" he argued weakly.

"Doesn't matter," she huffed. "Gosh, consider it a blessing that you met me. I don't even know how you can function right now."

He wouldn't exactly call it a blessing…

He looked up from his food as she began to tell him of her day at her school. As he listened to her, he couldn't help the small smile to appear on her lips.

But… he knew that meeting her was one of the best things to happen to him.

* * *

"Oh yeah, how's Pierre doing? Didn't he just transfer with PSG?" she asked from where she sat cuddled beside him, a blanket wrapped around her. He didn't get why she still wanted the air on when she's like this, but okay.

"He's doing great actually," he answered. "He's integrating in the team smoothly."

"That's nice," she chuckled as she snuggled closer to him. "I'm sure Louis is having a blast with him their. From what I heard, he likes pissing him off."

"If he was able to, Pierre would have probably punched him for all the times that Louis has been annoying him," Taro told her as he wrapped an arm around her, which prompted her to move closer to him and throw the blanket on him as well.

"I'm still surprised that he transferred here," she said. "Didn't he get offers from Marseille and Nice as well? Their offers were big too, bigger even, right?"

Taro hummed in affirmation, running his hand through her hair. Ayame took a deep breath and laid her head on his shoulder. Just that small action was enough to send a shiver down his spine. "He said he didn't really care for the money. He just thought it was about time all three of us were in the same team and conquer the Champions League."

"Like Tsubasa will let that happen," she laughed.

He chuckled with her, content with just having her close.

"We'll see," he replied.

They sat there just watching whatever was on the TV, but at this point Taro didn't even care what was going on. He was fine just having her beside him.

"Oh, by the way," she suddenly got up and turned to face him. "Apparently we're in magazines now."

Taro looked at her and blinked at her owlishly. "Huh?" What did she mean magazines?"

"Someone in class brought a tabloid today," she said. "She went up to me demanding whether I was the girl with you or not. We're not exactly in the front page, but we headlined, if that works. Here," she got up and left the blanket on him, her short pajama shorts barely providing enough cloth to cover her generous behind. Seriously, was she doing this on purpose? She was making him mad!

She went into one of the rooms, and soon she went out with a magazine in her hands. She seemed so amused by it.

"Look at this," she said as she plopped beside him and showed him the cover.

She wasn't joking when she said they were one of the headlines.

_**PSG'S SWEETHEART WITH HIS OWN SWEETHEART?!**_

"It gets better," she said, turning the pages until she landed on a specific page. Well, pages.

All over the spread littered pictures of them. Whether it was just around Paris, or it was from their trip to Barcelona, even pictures of them St. Malo, he could see that it this was getting out of hand.

But for some reason… he didn't seem to mind. Seeing him with her made him realize that they actually looked good together, that they seemed to fit perfectly together.

"The article wasn't really discreet in saying we looked good together," she laughed. "And even the people from class said it too. Or course, I didn't confirm or deny that I was the girl with you."

At this point he didn't even really care if she did. He was just feeling so happy, knowing that people approved of them together.

"They couldn't believe it too, when they we got into the conversation on you dating Azumi. They never thought you guys would even be together. They said that they could see you with someone less flashy, I guess. Someone who seemed more down-to-earth?"

"Someone like you?" he blurted out suddenly, looking at her. Ayame stared at him with wide eyes, her mouth opened in surprise. He stared back at her intently. He didn't know whether he wanted for her to realize what he meant, or for her to remain clueless.

"Nah," she replied, averting her eyes from him as she tried to laugh, her cheeks tinted pink. "Definitely not someone like me. I'm too caught up in my dreams to be down-to-earth."

She then opened her eyes, a soft smile on her face.

"Can you imagine though," she started. "What kind of relationship we would have if we're together."

It'd be the best damn relationship in this world.

End Chapter

* * *

AN: ayame's a sissy. thats it. and misaki's becoming bolder. it almost seemed like they switch personalities. ha, thats great. but yeah, here have this before i go back to studying.

bye thanks for reading and please review


	26. Till I Tasted You

AN: puppies make everything better

**Haruka-chan-** he's getting there, I promise. he just needs some more time, and get himself together. like i know this is such a slow burn fanfiction, but with the pacing of romance in CT, you kind of have to make it slow burn to make it authentic and true to the canon. i mean its already an AU as it is, but hey, whatever works right. i mean with what happens with this chapter aya should have gotten at least a hint of what taro wants LOL

**Sone-** speaking of studies, i should be studying right now but instead ive been watching Dragon Ball Super and writing this. thanks still tho, i need it.

* * *

Chapter 26: Till I Tasted You

"I want a dog," Ayame said as she sat with her knees up on her couch, nursing a mug of hot chocolate in her hands.

Taro looked up from his phone and turned to her. "Okay," he said in confusion.

Then she turned to him, her eyes wide. "If I get one, will you take care of them with me?"

And push all of the responsibility to him. Fuck no.

"No," he answered flatly before turning back to his phone.

"Oh come on," she whined as she put the mug on the table and leaned into his arm, shaking him lightly. "Please? It's going to be so much fun. We get to take it to walks, and dressed it up cutely for Halloween, cuddle with it…"

"You have to feed them too," he argued, "not to mention bathroom problems."

"So?" she said.

"Aya, you're in school most of the time," he added, turning to him. "Not to mention, you're getting that internship soon. You don't have time to take care of a dog."

"That's why you take care of it when I'm gone!" she declared excitedly. "We could be its parents!"

Taro felt his heart skip a beat. The thought of fathering something (human or not) with her was a nice thought, but still.

"I have training," he said. "I'm not home all the time, and I'm not taking care of a dog for you."

"Why not?" she leaned away, crossing her arms in a pout. "Dogs are great."

"I'm sure they are," he said, "but we're busy people. You still have to train it not to make a mess of your home." Then his voice got a little softer. "Besides, you don't have much time left here in Paris. I doubt you want to bring a dog with you back home."

Ayame was silent for a few moment and Taro almost felt guilty for saying it, but soon she suddenly rolled her eyes and scoffed.

"That's why I'm getting it for the both of us," she said. "So that you don't forget me easily."

What? What was she talking about? He's not-

"I don't exactly make the biggest impressions on people, so I'm guessing that's probably the case for you too," she said offhandedly, scrolling through her phone. Taro couldn't understand why she's talking about this so easily, as if this always happened.

And she was wrong, no one has made a bigger impact in his life than her.

"And I'm sure you're sick and tired of me nagging you and interrupting your peaceful life," she continued. "Maybe having a dog will let you remember me," she laughed soundlessly, a smile on her face. "Just imagine the puppy barking at you, sort of like how i nag you. That would be a sight to -"

Before he could even think of what he was doing, he felt himself move and suddenly he was above her, pinning her against the couch as he felt his eyes narrow at her. She was looking at him with wide eyes, surprised by his actions but he found that he could careless because he was just so angry and pissed that he didn't noticed it, nor did he want to.

"Stop," he growled, making her flinch.A tiny shiver passed through her spine as his eyes pierced through her, making her catch her breath. "Just stop. Don't think about it, don't talk about it. You're not leaving yet, and that's that."

Taro leaned down towards her and Ayame thought he was going to kiss her, making her close her eyes shut tight. But instead she felt something warm on her forehead. She opened her eyes just to see his face close to her, his lips barely even an inch from hers. His forehead was on hers, his eyes closed, and suddenly she could very much feel her heartbeat thundering against her chest.

"I don't want to think about it," he sighed, his breath ghosting over her lips. Ayame felt her cheeks hit up, and she had the sudden urge to lean up and meet her lips to his, but she stopped and forced herself to listen to him. "It's," he licked his lips, his tongue almost grazing to hers. She squeaked in surprise, and her heart still kept drumming, pounding painfully against her ribs. "It's painful, thinking that you won't be there beside me anymore. So, please just don't say anything about it."

Ayame nodded stiffly, her chest still hurting and Taro sighed against and she didn't know whether his lips did graze hers or it was just her imagination, but the next thing she knew was that he was burying his face on her shoulder.

Ayame laid there under him frozen, unsure of what to do. Taro was just on top of her, unmoving. His arms settled to his sides as he only nuzzled into her shoulder even more. Her heart pounder in her chest in such a fast rhythm she didn't know how she was still alive.

Awkwardly, Ayame wrapped her arms around him, hugging him uncertainly. When her hands started rubbing soothing circles down his back, she felt him take a breath and snuggled closer to her. She didn't really pay attention to it since Taro had been doing it for quite some time now. She didn't know when it began exactly, but he's been becoming a little affectionate to her. Not that she was complaining…

She released a sigh and looked up towards the ceiling, her hands on his back, getting tired from rubbing circles on him. She didn't know what's gotten in him that made him so touchy with her. One moment they were talking about puppies, and next thing she knew, he was pinning her with his body on her couch and _snuggling_ her like a baby. Like, she liked it when he gets like this, but come on, he was heavy and-

Wait a second- h-hold up- was he-was he kissing her neck?

_OMG he is_!

Ayame froze for the once more as she started to notice and _feel_ his lips grazing her neck. She didn't know if he was doing it on purpose, or he didn't know he was doing it. She just knew that her heart was beating too fast for comfort and her face was too warm, oh god, how in the world have she not passed out yet? This was too much, too much for her poor romantic heart.

_Holy sh-_

She stiffened once more as he felt his lips on her skin, this time a subtle pressure with it as she finally realized that he was definitely kissing her, and _sucking_ on spot that she was apparently sensitive to. Her mouth opened in surprise, as if trying to produce a sound that could describe what she felt at that very moment. But for some reason, her voice got stuck in her throat as her body began to feel warm and gah, stop it Taro, unless you want to fin-

Before she could even make a move, she suddenly felt his weight disappear

"Just tell me when you're getting the dog," he told her quietly, standing by the couch stiffly without even looking at him. "I'll go with you."

And just like that, he was gone from her sight as she heard the door close a few moments after.

Ayame released a breath she didn't even know she was holding. She put a hand on her chest, feeling her heart beat fast under her ribs.

_My god, what the fuck did just happen?_

* * *

When he looked back at it, he knew that he should have been regretting on what he did two days ago, but the more he tried to feel that way, the more he didn't care at all. Yes, that was basically one of the most intimate thing you could do with someone, and maybe he shouldn't have done that considering they weren't even together, but what if he've been _wanting _to do it? At least it was just him sucking on her neck and not something worse. God only knew what so badly wanted to ravish her there.

He already decided that he wasn't going to hide anymore, and that's why he wasn't going to hold himself back anymore from showing her how he wanted her.

It was strange… He remembered that he wasn't as bold when he was courting Azumi. Maybe it's because she was the one doing the perusing, and the only time he actually did show he was interested in her was when he was the one who asked her out first. Sure at that point, he already did like her from her constant presence in his life, but looking back at it now, it took him a long time before he could even ask her out.

Falling in love with Azumi was slow and gradual, like a flower slowly blossoming into something beautiful, but truly like a flower, it withered before it could even last, at least not as long as he wanted it.

He leaned against the center's fence, his gaze on her softening as he watched her be surrounded by the energetic puppies that she had to pick from. He felt his lips curve into a small smile, her laugh making him feel all warm inside.

It was different, falling in love with Ayame. It was slow, mostly because he refused to realize what he truly felt, but when he finally accepted it, he fell in love with her all at once. He knew that he was probably already starting to develop feelings for, he just didn't want to see it, but when he did, he felt that everything was suddenly in place, that his life finally made sense.

He watched as she picked up one of the tiny pups scattered around her. She brought it up to her face, and the puppy immediately started licking her face to her delight.

And he was sure that he wasn't going to let her go.

The puppy stopped its licking and she took this time to turn to him, a bright smile on her face as she cradled the pup in her arms while standing up. Taro returned her smile and pushed against the fence to walk towards her.

"Did you finally pick which one you wanted?" he asked once he reached her, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Yup!" she answered enthusiastically, showing him the puppy in her arms whose tail started wagging as it saw him. "I knew he was going to be the one when I picked him up."

Taro chuckled and offered the puppy his hand, who sniffed it before finally licking it. "Cute," he said. He watched the puppy lick him one more time before turning back to Ayame. The began to lick her once more, making her laugh once more. He smiled, loving the way she was so happy. He continued to keep his gaze on her, but soon he found his eyes roaming all over her, noticing the male keeper starting to talk (flirt actually, but he didn't realize it because he was too busy checking her out) to her until he noticed a subtle red mark on her neck.

Was that- it was, right? Wow, it's been two days and it still hadn't faded? Did she even attempt to hide it? But then again since she didn't put that much effort in her makeup today since it was a Saturday, and Saturdays were usually her lazy days. He was surprised that she even decided to make the appointment with the adoption center today. Usually, she chooses to stay at home…

"... maybe you'd like to talk more about it over some coffee?" Taro's ears picked up from the guy. He reluctantly turned away from the mark he left on her to look at him, a little miffed that this idiot had the gall to make a move on her when he was around. Didn't he see the large mark he left- wait, was that the reason why she wore that shirt? The neckline was high enough that it could cover it she didn't bother to use a concealer (don't ask how he knows what that is)?

Why did she have to make this so difficult?

Ayame, who seemed to have realized that the guy was in fact asking her out, froze and could only stutter as she tried to coherent answer for him. Damn it, why didn't she realize that this guy was flirting with her? How the hell was she going to get away from this mess?

He was good looking, she had to admit. He was nice enough for her taste, and his smile was pretty. If she wasn't so into Taro, maybe she would have accepted the invitation. But unfortunately, the guy she was in love with was just beside them.

_God damn it Aya, stop thinking about that stupid hickey. This is what you get for thinking of him_.

And there was that too! What the hell was that? And did he really have to make it last this long? It's been two days and it's still there! It's still as red as the first day he did it. She had to put so much concealer on it on Friday so that none of her classmates asked her about it. Her concealer's almost gone. She ought to have him take her makeup shopping just for that. It's a good thing her shirt had a high enough neckline to hide it that she didn't have to use her whole concealer.

At least, she hoped.

"...so what do you think? You up for that coffee?"

She blinked out of the thoughts to look at the guy once more. Shit, gotta think of something quick…

"O-oh," she stuttered, clutching the puppy closer to her (she forgot she had him to be honest). "U-um…" Come on brain, why did you choose of all times to stop functioning. "I-um-I-"

"Come on, Aya," Taro's voice cut through them and all of a sudden she felt an arm wrap around her waist, turning her around. She could feel Taro's breath brushing her ear and she felt shivers pass through her spine.

Damn it, he's doing it again.

"Let's go back home," he continued, pushing her lightly to go towards the compound. "I still have training remember. Couch Roux would hate it if I'm late."

Ayame could only nodded stiffly, her cheeks flushing as she felt his hand tighten its grip on her waist. If she didn't know any better, she would have thought he was acting like an overprotective boyfriend. Not that she didn't like it or anything…

Funny enough, if only she turned to look at Taro, she would have seen the glare he was giving the guy over her shoulder.

* * *

"So what did you name this little guy again?" Taro asked as he played with the white puppy on the floor of her living room, scratching and petting the little thing.

"MJ," she answered simply as she took a seat beside him, grabbing the pup from him to set him on her lap. MJ only barked and wagged his tail before jumping all around her.

"MJ?" Taro turned to her with one eyebrow raised, leaning back with his arm supporting him.

"For Marc Jacobs," she answered simply as she brought the pup to her face, nuzzling MJ before he started licking her face.

Taro could barely remember that the name was the name of a famous fashion designer, and for some reason, he wasn't even surprised that she would pick a name related to fashion.

"Oh!" she exclaimed as she put MJ back on her lap, grabbing her phone. "You need to be on Instagram, you little cotton ball. I can't wait for everyone to see you."

She began to take selfies with the pup, who as expected wouldn't listen to her instructions of looking at her phone. Taro couldn't help the chuckle from escaping him as she watched him take pictures with her- _their_\- new dog.

Discreetly, he took his own phone and directed his camera to her, and as she had her arm out to take a picture of herself with MJ, he took one of her.

* * *

_**taromisaki1123 **__adventure is out there ㈅4ㇴ0❤_

* * *

End Chapter

* * *

AN: lol, i had huge troubles thinking of names for that dog okay, like i didn't want to use common names like spike or buster or whatever basic name there is. at first i was thinking of naming it something related to food, but i couldn't think of one. but then an idea came to me. since aya's a fashion geek, why dont i name it based on someone related to fashion, thus MJ the white Bichon Frise is born, named after american designer Marc Jacobs. see, wasn't that smart ei ei ei?

but anyway, taro already making the moves when they aren't even official yet. leaving a hickey (or love bit whatever you wanna call it), of all things. and man can you say territorial much LOL. stop being jealous you nerd, aya loves you, as long as she starts to admit it anyway. lets not forget the instagram picture. personally i see it as something like aya taking a selfie with MJ sitting on her lap, finally looking at her phone. the sun was shining down on them making it such a sight to see, so taro decided to take a picture of them from the side. when he posted it on instagram, it was in black and white and gosh i wish i could draw it so bad :(((. but anyway, you can imagine what the picture is. its up to you.

thats it for now, and i really should get back to studying.

thanks for reading and pls review! (i'll try to update all the other stories after finals, i hope)

see ya


	27. Everything's Gonna Be Alright

AN: i am here, breathing but maybe a little problems but im alright

**HimeKanata-** aya brings out sides of taro he didn't even know he had lol. hey, he can be passionate if he wanted to be LMAO. i promise tho, they'll know each other's feelings soon. it's outlined somewhere LOL. but anyway. thanks for waiting for me and i hope u keep reading. ILYSM

**Sone-** they'll confess to each other soon, i promise. just a few more. i can feel this story ending in a few chapters. but thanks for patiently waiting. i hope u enjoy this chapter :D

* * *

Chapter 27: Everything's Gonna Be Alright

Life with the MJ had been a busy to say the least. The puppy, for all its tiny frame, had too much energy. Sure he didn't really bark as much as the other small dogs he met before. At the same time, the problems he predicted that the little pup would bring them did happen. Already, MJ marked Ayame's home with his urine and feces, as well as started chewing up various things around her house. Although, he wasn't going to lie, seeing her tear up when she came home and finding out her pet chewed up a lot of her shoes actually made him laugh (especially when she screamed that it was her Marc Jacob ones. That one made him laugh so hard he fell). Even if he did feel some sympathy for her. Hey, she brought that upon herself. He told her how much of a problem it'll bring her, and look at what happened.

But he was surprised, she took it all in stride and sucked it up. She threw her shoes out, scolded MJ for destroying them, and brooded as she cooked them dinner.

He couldn't say the same after that. No matter what she did, MJ usually found a way for him to chew on her shoes. Even when she bought those hanging racks for her shoes or telling her dog not to go to her room, MJ always gets to them for some reason. And he didn't even chew on anything else but her shoes. He did have chew toys, but he ignored them and searched for her shoes.

Napoleon -when she lamented her woes to their friends- suggested that she gets rid of him. Ayame only gasped in horror and offense.

"_Excuse me,"_ she said. "_What are you talking about? MJ's my baby. I'm not getting rid of him!"_

"_But I thought your shoes are your bab-"_ he asked her, to which she only answered by shushing him with her finger.

"_I have many babies Taro,"_ she said. "_No one can just tell me to get rid of them."_

He thought she didn't make any sense, and Louis seemed to have the same sentiments. Marie was the only one who sympathized with her as she patted Ayame's back and comforted her while crying over her shoes all over again.

He still thought she was crazy.

"Really MJ, this is like the fourth pair you destroyed ever since I got you a month ago." he heard her from where he sat in her living room, leaning on the wall and eating the half of the sandwich she couldn't eat. "Are you trying to run me broke? I have to buy new ones again."

He could see from where he was at that MJ only wagged his tail as he tried to catch his owner's attention, who only ignored him and foraged through her shoes, making sure there wasn't any more that was destroyed. He could hear her mumble and grumble unhappily, making him chuckle. MJ seemed to realize that Ayame doesn't want to play with him right now so he jogged away from her, and when he saw him, the pup immediately bounded towards Taro. No sooner did Taro look down on him did the pup start begging for his food, scratching up his pants as MJ whimpered.

Taro only smiled and finished the rest of the sandwich before petting the puppy who began to nibble on his hand.

"Sorry bud," he said, letting the dog play with his hand. "Your owner doesn't want you eating people food."

"And you better not have given him some, Taro," came the quip from the bedroom.

Taro only rolled his eyes and didn't answer back. Of course he wouldn't give him food. It's not like she hadn't drilled it to his head for three straight weeks now.

Taro continued to play with MJ as Ayame continued to rummage through her room, still searching for other things her dog destroyed. He took MJ in his arms and sat on the couch, letting the small pup snooze on his lap as he turned on the TV to find something to watch. He settled on a news channel after browsing through everything when the doorbell suddenly rang.

MJ rose his head from his lap as Taro turned towards the direction of the front door. Who could that be? Was she expecting someone. They're landlord, maybe? Didn't she talk to him about MJ a few days before adopting him?

"Did someone just ring the doorbell?" Ayame's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Yeah," he answered as MJ jumped from the couch and bounded to the door.

"Can you get that for me? I'm still fixing my closet," she asked. Taro heeded her request and followed MJ. He blocked the dog's path, who was quite excited by the prospect of a visitor based on how much his tail wagged, as he started turning the knob of the door.

"Finally, Aya, I was about t- You're not Ayame," he heard a female voice say as he turned towards the front before he was caught off guard by what he saw.

The blonde woman stared at him with her wide blue eyes, blinking as they looked at each other in surprise. She looked well off, judging from the high quality of her clothes as well the expensive looking handbag from her shoulder (Gucci he thought from what Ayame told him). She also had two large suitcases with her, also looking as expensive as her handbag. Taro didn't know who this woman could be, but something about her seemed familiar to him.

"_I'm sorry_," the lady apologized in . "I _thought this was my daughter's apartment. I must have went to the wrong one._" Then she a thoughtful look entered her face as she put a hand under chin. Then she spoke in English. "_I swear she said her apartment was 512."_

Well, this was 512… Maybe her daughter used to live here. Ayame did say that she only got this apartment two years ago.

Before he could even answer, he heard Ayame's voice drift towards them.

"Hey, hotshot why are you still standing in front of the door? Let them come- holy shit Mom?!" she exclaimed as she peered over his shoulder. Taro moved around as she gently pushed him out of the way, hysterically speaking to who, apparently was her mother.

So that's why something about the lady was familiar to him.

"Why are you here?" Ayame asked as she ushered her mother inside, taking the suitcase with her as signalled for Taro to get the other one. Taro only raised his eyebrow before heeding her,closing the door once they were all inside.

"I'm here for Fashion Week of course," was her chipper answer. Ayame gave the other suitcase to Taro. "Just put it in the room next to the bathroom," she told him as she went back to her mother. Again Taro only raised an eyebrow and snorted before he lugged the suitcases in the room she said to him.

"Besides, can't I visit my daughter?" her mom huffed. "My girls left me once more for a long while to deal with my husband. As much as I love your father, sometimes his company is just not enough. The house is too big for just the two of us."

"You could have told me that you were doing Fashion Week here!" He heard Ayame say as he got out of the room, opting to lean his side against the wall. He'll wait until she was ready to introduce him to her. Besides, if she could meet his dad, then surely it's okay for him to meet her mom.

As he let them continue their conversation, he felt MJ rub his leg and he looked down to see the pup looking at him with wide eyes. Taro only smiled and picked him up letting the dog lick his face.

"I was planning on surprising you," her mother crossed her arms with a huff. Then her eyes landed on him. "And honestly, between the two of us, I think I was more surprised. You didn't tell me you got new boyfriend. You didn't even introduce him to me yet."

"B-boyfrie- what?" she followed her mother's eyes just to see Taro laugh at MJ's playful licks. There was a tug in Ayame's heart, her mind going "Awwww" at the scene but she only shook her head to focus back on what's happening.

"Taro's not my boyfriend," he heard his name mentioned, and he turned towards Ayame as she looked at her mom exasperatedly, her face red.

Well, he wasn't her boyfriend, not yet anyway.

"We're just friends!" she said while still blushing. Taro wondered when he'd be able to change that. Hopefully soon. "And- ugh Taro just come here."

Okay?

"Here. _Mom_," she stressed. "This is Taro Misaki. He's my neighbor. Because of some circumstances, we became really good friends." She explained as Taro gave a polite smile to her mother, and warily gave her a bow. Ayame's half-Japanese, right? Surely she knew some Japanese customs too.

"Taro, my mother," she introduced slowly, huffing in annoyance. "Rachel Kiseki, or more known as Rachel Leblanc of Royalty Fashion."

"Nice to meet you!" her mother cheerfully greeted him, offering her hand to him. Taro gingerly shook hands with her, MJ looking at them curiously.

"And who's this little one?" she asked as she leaned over to the puppy in Taro's arm.

"That's my puppy!" Ayame exclaimed, totally shifting her mood from annoyed to excited in a blink of an eye, which, in itself wasn't really that much of a weird thing to happen. Taro didn't even know why he questioned it. Ayame took MJ from his arms and cuddled him, showing him to her mom as Rachel cooed while MJ licked her hand.

"This is MJ," Ayame said, petting her dog as he continued giving licks to her mother. "Short for-"

"Marc Jacobs," her mother looked up to her, a mischievous glint in her eyes as she smiled cheekily.

Wow, this has to be the first time someone actually guessed MJ's name right. But then again, she _is_ also a fashion designer.

Ayame seemed surprise for a moment, but it quickly disappeared to be replaced by mirth in her eyes.

"You guessed it," she winked. "You're one of the first people to actually know it right away. You truly are my mother."

"Of course I am," Rachel huffed. "I didn't let them cut me open just to tell you you're not mine."

...Taro didn't want to say it but that was too much information for him.

"Mom!" Ayame gasped in horror, a pink tint splattered in her cheeks as she threw him a cautious look. Taro only raised his hand to say he didn't mind.

"What? You've heard how you were born many times. Why are y-"

"Did you eat dinner yet?" Ayame interrupted before she could get anything out anymore. She let MJ down on the floor as the puppy began to squirm in her arms before she proceeded to the kitchen. "I was just about to get the pasta out of the oven."

"Oh great, I'm starving," Rachel said as she followed her daughter to her kitchen.

Taro blinked owlishly as he watched the mother and daughter talk. Just from the few minutes he observed both of them, he could definitely tell they were related. It seemed like Ayame got her quirkiness and straightforwardness from her mother. If he didn't know better, they could have been sisters with the way they resemble each other.

But even then, there was just something about Ayame that was totally unique that made her stand out even if she was right beside her mother or her twin sister.

Smiling he headed out to where the two women were, intending on helping out.

"What do you mean they don't know?" Ayame demanded as she set the tray of pasta on the counter while looking exasperatedly at her mother. "You mean to tell me that you didn't tell security about you being here?"

"Maybe…" Rachel shifted her eyes away from them. "I did tell them that I'd be going to my daughter's. Just not right after my plane landed."

"Oh god, Leah's probably in hysterics right now," Ayame sighed as she rubbed her forehead.

"Is it a good time to tell you I've been ignoring her calls?"

Ayame whipped her head to her mother so fast Taro didn't know how it didn't break.

"Mom! Really?"

"What? I wanted to see you. I didn't want her to drag me to the hotel right away and force me to rest," her mother grumbled as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Well, you better call Leah right now and tell her where you are," Ayame told her, crossing her arms the same way her mom did (left-over-right, narrowed eyes and lips in a tight line). "She's going to have a search party for you if you don't call right now."

"Fine," her mother sighed and rolled her eyes before stalking out of the room. Taro took a step to the side to let her pass before turning towards Ayame who was starting to bring out the garlic bread she heated up in the oven.

"You okay?" he asked as he moved to stand beside her. He quietly slipped an arm around her hip to pull him against her as she started to move the bread onto a plate.

"Yeah," she sighed, unconsciously leaning into him. He felt himself brim up with pride knowing that she just accepted his presence so easily, that she was so comfortable with just with being him. "My mother could be a handful sometimes. Here, taste it," she took a piece of bread and offered it to him.

Taro took a glance at it and took a bite. It tasted okay, delicious even, especially with how it was still warm.

"Tastes good," he answered honestly.

"Great!" she beamed. She took a bite of it too, nodding as she closed her eyes as she savored the taste of the food she made. "Mom's really picky with food, and it's a good thing I decided it was pasta day today. I'm still miffed about her not saying anything to her PA. She could have probably eaten earlier too if she didn't head straight here."

"Can you blame her? She just wanted to see you as soon as possible. She missed you," Taro said as he gave her a light squeeze. Ayame put her head on his shoulder. "I know," she sighed, "but sometimes I just want her to remember that she can't just do whatever she wants without telling Leah. She has a schedule to follow, and not to mention the paparazzi."

She produced a grimace at the mention of the gossip harvesters, and Taro couldn't help the chuckle that escaped his lips.

"Ugh, I don't even want to imagine what kind of stories they'll make when they see Mom here," she groaned, hiding her face in her hands as Taro only held her tighter against him.

Then she moved suddenly, her eyes wide in panic as she turned to face him. "Oh god, what if she found out all the stories about us? She's going to flip!"

"We can always explain her everything," he suggested. "I mean who would she rather believe, her own daughter or tabloids?"

Although he was working on getting those stories become true.

Ayame only cried and buried her face on his chest, whining childishly as he chuckled once more before kissing the top of her head.

Whatever happens, Taro knew that as long as she was in his arms, then everything would be okay.

* * *

"Do you want to sleep in the hotel with me next Tuesday?" Rachel asked her daughter as they sat on the couch together. No matter how much she tried to beg to her personal assistant, they still wouldn't let her sleep at her daughter's apartment _even_ if it'll save them money if they cancelled her room (really these people didn't know how to save!). Now, someone was going to pick her up tomorrow and bring her back to the five star hotel they booked.

Taro already left for the night, giving them time to spend alone. After all, they would both be busy once the week starts until the week after. It was nice of him to give them time together.

And besides, her mom seemed to have liked Taro. At least she hoped.

"You know, so we can go to my show together!" her mother said. Ayame knitted her eyebrows together in thought. Didn't she tell her mother?

"Mom, I can't," she answered letting MJ lay on her lap. "I told you didn't I? I have an internship at Gabriel Martine. They want all the interns they hired to be there to help."

"You got an internship with Gabriel?" Rachel turned to her in surprise. "Since when?"

Ayame rolled her eyes and pressed the on button on the remote for the TV. "Since I started school. I've been working at the headquarters and the local boutique. I told you that right after I got it."

"Oh," her mother said. "I must have forgot…"

Ayame only sighed and continued to browse channels, trying to hide her disappointment from her mother. What else did she expect? Shizuka and Ayuri probably told her something too.

"I think that was also the time Shizuka told me that NASA wanted her to come visit," Rachel murmured absentmindedly.

Ayame only stared at the TV as she petted MJ, pretending to not hear her mother. Rachel pretended that Ayame didn't hear her either.

"You still don't want to sleep with me in my hotel Tuesday?" Rachel asked once more as she took the pup from her daughter's lap and help him close to her.

"Yeah…" Ayame answered, finally turning to face her mother with a small smile on her face. It seemed like they're not going to talk about this whole issue with them again. "I'll see you before you leave though. I promise."

Rachel returned her smile, this time smaller than before but with more feeling into it. "I'll hold you that."

* * *

Taro wasn't here for breakfast, no he really wasn't. He was just here to offer his help to Ayame's mother with her luggage. After all, those two large suitcases seemed to be quite heavy for someone like her. Bringing some breakfast was just a spur of the moment on his part.

He was in no way trying to win Rachel Kiseki, the mother of the girl he was attracted to, over. Nope, no he was not.

(He was, but they didn't need to know that)

"Wow, these croissants are really good, Taro!" Rachel exclaimed as she took another bite out of the croissant she was eating. "Where in the world did you get these? I doubt I'd even get something like this in the hotel."

"There's a bakery a few blocks away from here that serves them," He answered with a smile. "They just came fresh from the oven too."

"Awesome!" Rachel gleefully said as she took a different pastry from the plate where Ayame put all of them.

"You went to _Madeline's_?" Ayame asked incredulously as she put a bowl with some fruits on the table before taking a seat beside him. Rachel only observed them, but there was something curious in her eyes. "This early? Taro you didn't have to…"

He only shrugged and took an apple slice from the bowl. "It's no big deal. Besides, this way you don't have cook anything for this morning. I'm sure you'd like to take a break from it."

Ayame looked down and felt her cheeks heat up. Something that didn't pass her mother's eyes.

...Huh, maybe there was something more about their relationship than her daughter let on.

"Thank you," she mumbled silently before grabbing a croissant from the plate, a small smile on her face. Taro also looked down on towards his mug of coffee, the same kind of smile on his face and honestly, Rachel couldn't believe she didn't realize that these two were in love with each other. Looking at them like this, they looked like two people realizing what love was, and it was beautiful.

Darn, and she was hoping that Dominic would be able to fix whatever happened with them.

…But, Taro didn't seem so bad either. From what she'd seen, he seemed like a nice kid. Polite, kind, and he loved to take care of her daughter. He was attractive too. And he seemed to care for her more than a friend should. She couldn't deny that from all the interactions she'd seen of them, he doted on her just as much she doted on him.

It was quite cute if she was going to be honest.

Although he was a famous soccer star (apparently, she never did get into sports that much), he didn't let it get to his head and stayed level headed and down to earth. She could see why Ayame would gravitate and be attracted to him.

Now she knew why French tabloids seemed so in love with these two.

"Ah! MJ, no. Stop begging for people food, you can't have them."

"Oh come on, just let him have a small piece. He's been a good boy."

"Good boy? A good boy-"

Rachel smiled as she watched the two of them discuss the food their puppy should eat.

She didn't think she would mind if Ayame got together with Taro Misaki.

* * *

"You know," he heard Rachel start from where she stood beside him. They were waiting for Rachel's PA to pick her up with an UBER with her. He even volunteered to drop her off before he head to training, but she said it was fine. She didn't want him driving away from _Camp des Loges_. Taro argued that he didn't mind, but Rachel was adamant to just wait for her PA. Leah might get a heart attack when she found out she got a ride from a man young enough to be her son. Taro wasn't going to deny it, but he laughed harder than necessary. Now, they were just waiting for Ayame to get off the phone with Leah as she gave her directions to their apartment.

"Something tells me there's more to you and my daughter's relationship," she said, turning to him slightly, but Taro couldn't see what's on her mind exactly when she said that because of the large sunglasses hiding her eyes.

"I'm sorry?" Taro asked. What was she talking about?

"Aya tells me that you guys aren't dating. The tabloids seemed to think otherwise," Rachel explained nonchalantly. "And, I'm pretty sure that there's more to it than that." Then a mischievous smirk crossed her lips. "After all a person who's been in love could see when someone's in love."

Taro felt his cheeks burn as he looked down. Was he that obvious?

"Oh," he said dumbly. Rachel chuckled and Taro could feel his cheeks getting warmer.

"We're not-" he said, "you know, we're not together…" he admitted. Rachel only raised her eyebrows in amusement.

"But," he said before he could stop himself. "I would love to…"

Rachel blinked her eyes and stared at him with surprise. She didn't think he would have the courage to admit it out loud.

Taro, on the other hand, couldn't believe he would confess his attraction to Ayame that easily, and to her mother no less. This was so embarrassing.

"Um…" he said, scratching his neck as he looked anywhere but Rachel while his cheeks felt hotter once more. "I guess… I guess I just wanted to ask if I can- if I can date your daughter? I mean… you are here and yeah… I- yeah."

Rachel could only look at him behind her sunglasses. Suddenly a smile blossomed on her face.

Forget dating, this man could marry Ayame and she wouldn't have any complaints about it.

She would have liked Dominic to be her son-in-law, but she would love it even more if Taro was her daughter's husband.

"Sweetheart, Ayame can date whoever she wants," she answered. "But just between you and me, I would love it if it was you who would show her how amazing love could be."

She raised her sunglasses to give him a brief wink, chucking from seeing his surprised face and smiled as she watched his face beam in a bright smile that made him more attractive than he was already.

"Leah will be here in 15 minutes," Ayame said as she approached them. Rachel turned away from her daughter's almost-boyfriend and turned to her, that smile never leaving her face.

Yeah, Taro Misaki would be perfect for Ayame.

End Chapter

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AN: LOL HAVE THIS PLS READ AND REVIEW


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